If you are overweight and you are considering living a healthy life, surely you will be given an advice to lose more weight to reduce the risks of having diseases.

However, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, it was found that the odds of clinically obese people to achieve normal weight without surgical interventions are just 1 out of 210 for men and 1 out of 124 for women in a year.

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The findings suggest that the current weight management programs focused on dieting and exercise are not effective in helping obese patients achieve their fundamental purpose of sustained weight loss, according to Pioneer News.

Alison Fildes, lead researcher and a research psychologist at the University College London, said, "What our findings suggests is that current strategies used to tackle obesity are not helping the majority of obese patients to lose weight and maintain that weight loss. Once an adult becomes obese, it is very unlikely that they will return to a healthy body weight."

"Losing 5 to 10 percent of your body weight has been shown to have meaningful health benefits and is often recommended as a weight loss target. These findings highlight how difficult it is for people with obesity to achieve and maintain even small amounts weight loss," Fildes added.

The study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) was based on the analysis of more than 278,982 participants, tracked between 2004 and 2014. It highlights the difficulty obese people face in trying to achieve sustained weight loss through diet and exercise alone.

The study looked at the probability of obese patients attaining normal weight or a 5 percent reduction in body weight; patients who received bariatric surgery were excluded from the study. A minimum of three body mass index (BMI) records per patient were used to estimate weight changes, Eurekalert reports.

According to CBS News, Dr, Kevin Niswender, an associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said, "We know that there are changes that happen in the brain when people become obese, and these data shows that those changes in the brain that happen in obesity are not reversible. Niswender was not involved in the said study.

Tags obese people, obesity, Weight Loss