NEW YORK, Feb. 1 -- Starting a diet is no small undertaking, and certainly not one to be taken lightly. In fact, a new American study urges people to think twice about dieting, pointing to the notorious yo-yo effect, the result of medically unnecessary diets. The findings of this research alert people to the importance of making informed choices, rather than succumbing to societal pressure.

"Yo-yo dieting - unintentionally gaining weight and dieting to lose weight only to gain it back and restart the cycle - is a prevalent part of American culture, with fad diets and lose-weight-quick plans or drugs normalised as people pursue beauty ideals," says the study's corresponding author, Lynsey Romo, an associate professor of communication at N...