Diet Pills Can Increase Unhealthy Behaviors

Glaxo Smith Kline's Alli is the first nonprescription fat absorption drug or weight loss pill approved by the FDA. Marketing for these weight loss pills, a version of the diet drug Xenical, emphasizes its role as a supplement to a healthy lifestyle. It's not a weight loss pill that leads you to believe you can skip exercise and nutritious meals. Rather, it's part of a whole healthy living plan.

How weight loss pills increase unhealthy behaviors

Marketing professors from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School of Business found that obese consumers who take prescription or over-the-counter weight loss pills become more likely to eat junk food and exercise less. That's likely because people figure the fat absorption pill or weight loss pills will melt away the pounds without exertion. Weight loss pills may also prompt consumers to believe they can't lose weight themselves through self-discipline, diet and exercise. They become dependent on the diet pills and feel ineffective without them.

Researchers found that diet supplements or weight loss supplements didn't have the same effect as weight loss pills or diet pills. Researchers think it's because the very word supplement leads people to think that supplementary or extra work is necessary to lose weight. That is, they expect to watch what they eat, try weight loss camps, and exercise vigorously simply because they're taking a supplement.

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