Overweight and obesity are common health problems worldwide. Food plans that work - those that help people lose weight and help them keep the weight off - embody only a few simple principles. These weight loss secrets include eating five or six small meals each day, combining protein and carbohydrates

It's well-known that one-third of American adults are overweight and an additional one-third are obese.1 In addition, 17% of U.S. children and adolescents are obese.2 Worldwide statistics are similar. These facts are strongly associated with ongoing epidemics in diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Diabetes

America's weight problems are now so well-known they're even fair game for jokes at the Oscars. "Americans really know how to fill up a seat," jibes Ellen DeGeneres, host of the 2007 Academy Awards. The statistics are alarming. Sixty-five percent of Americans - 130 million in 2001 - are overweight.