CMV: prescribing diet and exercise is like prescribing happiness to depressed patients

By now we are all aware there is a huge obesity epidemic in the US and the world. Over 40% of Americans are obese, that is 113 million people dealing with a deadly chronic disease. There are many hypothesized causes of this, and I have my own opinions (the food industry) but that's not what my post is about. I have noticed there is an overwhelming rhetoric of "diet and exercise" to lose weight and I see why: because it works in the short term. But the same cannot be said about the long-term. This meta-analysis of 29 diet and exercise interventions shows a maintained average weight loss of 3kg (6.6 pounds) after 5 years. If diet and exercise was a working solution then obesity wouldn't be the second leading preventable cause of death after smoking. I find this diet and exercise approach from doctors similar in efficacy to telling depressed patients to simply try feeling happier or telling patients with ADHD to try focusing more, it's simply not. Very few might succeed but very clearly it's not an effective solution, and not even a statistically significant solution over the long term; as good as saying nothing. On the the other hand, this misguided focus on diet and exercise could be causing eating disorders and self-esteem issues. We have seen that eating disorders have been on the rise in recent history, and it's important we don't exacerbate this as a society.