Examining advertising in the market for over the counter (OTC) weight loss products which is a heterogeneous market, with products in the form of pills, powders, creams, gels, patches, and jewelry (This category does not include meal replacements).
In the U.S. during 2009 - 2010, the prevalence of overweight was 64.5% for women and 74.1% for men (Flegal et al. 2012). Overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of greater than or equal to 25, and obesity is defined as a BMI of greater than or equal to 30; NHLBI (2000).
Given those statistics, it may not be surprising that 60% of American women and 36% of American men are trying to lose weight (Baradelet al.,2009).
Safe and effective methods of weight loss involve behavior modification: decreased calorie intake and increased physical activity resulting in weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week (NHLBI, 2000). Such “lifelong effort” (NHLBI, 2000, p. 1) and gradual weight loss are not particularly appealing, and as a result some people consume OTC weight loss products that promise rapid weight loss with little or no effort.
OTC weight loss products have been consumed by 20.6% of adult women and 9.7% of adult men (Blanck et al.,2007), and by 14.4% of adolescent females and 7.2% of adolescent males
(Wilson et al.,2006).
These are percentages of the entire U.S. population, not just of the subpopulation that is overweight or trying to lose weight. Among those who have ever made a serious weight-loss attempt, 33.9% used an OTC weight loss product (Pillitteri et al.,2008).
OTC weight loss products are only loosely regulated and have a history of little efficacy and dangerous side effects.
OTC weight loss products are governed by the 1994 Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act (DSHEA) and are treated as foods (Correia, 2004; GAO, 2002).
They are sold OTC in supermarkets and pharmacy aisles as well as through the mail and over the Internet. Because they are regulated as foods, manufacturers need not show any benefit from the product but also cannot make specific disease claims.
Manufacturers bear no responsibility for proving safety before marketing; like food, the product is assumed to be safe. Advertising of OTC weight loss products is subject to the same regulations that govern advertising of food. The FDA and FTC have joint authority over the regulation of dietary supplements; the FTC has primary authority over advertising and the FDA has primary authority over labeling (FTC, 2010); they are not subject to the far more stringent regulations on the advertising of prescription medications. During the period examined, the OTC weight loss market did not yet include Alli, the OTC version of the prescription weight loss drug Xenical that was introduced June 15, 2007 and is the only weight loss product approved by the FDA for OTC sale).
As a result, manufacturers of OTC weight loss products have considerable latitude in the marketing of their products. OTC weight loss products are generally ineffective and can have severe, even potentially fatal, side effects (GAO, 2002).
A review of the evidence on the safety and efficacy of OTC weight loss products concluded, “The evidence for most dietary supplements as aids in reducing body weight is not convincing. None of the twelve reviewed dietary supplements can be recommended for over-the-counter use” (Pittler et al., 2004).
Two active ingredients that were common in this class of products have since been banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for increasing the risk of stroke and cardiac events: ephedra in 2005 and phenylpropanolamine (PPA) in 2000. Although these and similar active ingredients have little effect on calorie expenditure and therefore weight loss, they do increase heart rate, which could be interpreted by a poorly-informed consumer as an increase in metabolism that will burn fat. In fact, they have little if any impact on weight but do increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Awareness of the fatal side effects associated with OTC weight loss products was increased by the highly-publicized deaths of several professional athletes (Korey Stringer of the Minnesota Vikings football team whose death led the NFL to ban players’ use of ephedra; Steve Bechler of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team; Rashidi Wheeler, a Northwestern University football player; and Devaughan Darling, a Florida State football player) who were consuming the products to try to lose weight they had gained during the off-season; see Sheinin (2003).
To increase the sensation that metabolism has increased manufacturers often include caffeine that further raises the risk of cardiac events. Even after the FDA removed PPA and ephedra from the market these products continue to have active ingredients with negligible efficacy and substantial side effects (Dwyer et al., 2005; Pittler and Ernst, 2004; Bouchard et al., 2005). Analysis of a dozen weight-loss supplements sold on the internet in 2007 found that two-thirds contained one or more ingredients associated with multiple incidents of life-threatening cardiac complications or death, but none of the products’ advertisements, labels, or accompanying materials warned of such adverse events (Nazeri et al., 2009).
The market for OTC weight loss products is characterized by incomplete information. OTC weight loss products can be experience goods (consumers do not know how well the product will work for them until they consume it or even credence goods (consumers aren’t sure how well it worked even after they consume it). Drugs and supplements can have person-specific effects, so even information from friends and family who have consumed the product may be of uncertain relevance. Consumers are also poorly informed about government regulation of these products; roughly half of Americans believe that OTC weight loss products must be approved for safety and efficacy before being sold to the public (Pillitteri et al., 2008; Harris Interactive, Inc., 2002). Note that Consumers’ confusion about regulation of OTC weight loss products could be due in part to similar confusion among physicians; a survey found that 37% of physicians in residency training programs were unaware that OTC dietary supplements do not require FDA approval before sale (Ashar et al., 2007).
The market failure of imperfect information makes deceptive advertising potentially profitable. In general, deceptive advertising is more advantageous to firms selling experience or credence goods (Nelson, 1974). Whether because of a lack of information or other reasons, “Deceptive weight loss claims have long plagued the supplement industry” (FTC, 2010, p. 9).
Deceptive advertising of OTC weight loss products could have several negative consequences, the magnitudes of which depend on the effect of deceptive advertising on consumption. If deceptive advertising is cooperative (increases the probability of use) then the negative consequences may be substantial; those induced by the deceptive ads to begin consuming OTC weight loss products face a risk of adverse, even potentially fatal, side effects. Even if deceptive advertising is merely competitive or predatory (causing existing users to change brands but not convincing any abstainers to begin using the products) it still may create a “lemons market” in which deceptively advertised products drive the more honestly advertised products out of the market (Akerlof, 1970; Carlton and Perloff, 2000). However The FTC has written, “…if the entire field of weight-loss advertising is subject to widespread deception, then advertising loses its important role in the efficient allocation of resources in a free-market economy. If the purveyors of the “fast and easy fixes” drive the market place, then others may feel compelled to follow suit or risk losing market share to the hucksters who promise the impossible. Public health suffers as well.”(FTC, 2002).
Given the large number of Americans taking OTC weight loss products, the products’ ineffectiveness, history of substantial side effects (including death), and the frequency with which these products have had to be withdrawn from the market for safety reasons, the effect of deceptive advertising on consumption of these products is of considerable interest for public policy and public health.
NOTE The above write up is an extract from The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Discussion Paper No. 7247, February 2013 on The Effect of Deceptive Advertising on Consumption of the Advertised Good and its Substitutes: The Case of Over-the-Counter Weight Loss Products.
From a personal point of view, effective weight loss can be achieved via effective and efficient control on dietary intake of the affected individual. A disciplined attitude toward adhering to the natural dietary requirement that suit the prevailing weight condition is advocated. The individual should consult his/ her dietician for a possible dietary placement which should not be misconceived as call for starvation. Starvation in an act to shade/ loss weight can lead to Peptic Ulcer.
What is peptic ulcer?
It is a disease in which a hole has been made in the mucous membrane lining the stomach or duodenum.
Causes:
Too much Hydrochloric acid (HCl), because of nervous tension, IRREGULAR MEALS, smoking, alcohols, lack of sleeps, etc.
Cure: Antacids
Perhaps a quick run on the Diet and Dietary functions of the food substance will refresh your memory once more on what each of the natural food substance does to the body system
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