Gastroplasty and Diet in Morbid Obesity

To the Editor: It comes as little surprise that gastroplasty offered a better alternative for long-term control of morbid obesity than weight loss by means of a liquid-protein diet, in the study of Andersen et al. (Feb. 9 issue).* Most weight-loss programs that concentrate on diet regimen alone fail to help the patient maintain weight loss, because they ignore other critical elements in the process of long-term success. When the patient ceases the experimental diet regimen, he or she will almost always return to previous dietary habits, which have been ingrained by repetition, societal influences, family tradition, and so forth. . . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.