Some industries making big money off weight

Advertising campaigns target consumers when they're most receptive, plagued with guilt over pounds gained during the holidays.

What the industry actually sells is hope. Companies know that the chronically overweight are desperate, willing to believe that the next pill or program will finally be the one that works.

"People are looking for a quick fix," says Carolyn Berdanier, professor emerita of nutrition at the University of Georgia. "They are sitting ducks for ads like Metabolife and 'fat-burners.'"

Americans spend about $30 billion a year trying to lose weight. One of the customers who has helped keep the industry in business is Angi Harben of Athens.

"I've done Weight Watchers, TOPS, Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, Richard Simmons, Dexatrim, Metabolife, Meridia, fen/phen, a gym with a personal trainer, diet doctors," she says.

Nothing worked for Harben until she underwent gastric bypass surgery, a procedure that costs about $25,000. It's generally recommended only for patients who are at least 100 pounds overweight.

The typical consumer is looking for something less drastic, but equally effective. Following bad publicity about the fenfluramine/phentermine combination, which was taken off the market after one of the appetite-suppressing drugs was linked to heart problems, many consumers are turning to non-pharmaceutical alternatives.

"About 50 percent of our customers buy weight-loss products," says Janet Adamson, manager of Austin's Nutrition Center on Browns Bridge Road. "They want something more natural than going to the doctor and getting diet pills."

She says most people buy "fat-burners," concoctions that are supposed to speed up metabolism. Some of these products claim to help the user "lose weight while you sleep."

"We sold tons of Sleep-Away last year," she says. "I tried it and lost like 27 pounds in a month."

Products such as the popular Metabolife get their kick from the stimulant herb ephedra, which has come under fire from the federal Food and Drug Administration for causing sometimes-fatal reactions. Adamson says customers are now asking for products that don't contain ephedra.

"We've got one made of ground-up shellfish that works like a magnet to flush the fat out of your system," she says. "But what's really going gangbusters is the low-carb stuff. The shakes, the bars, it's flying off the shelf."

Health food stores aren't the only places offering such products. All the major pharmacy chains now sell dietary supplements, and a number of Gainesville health-care providers, mostly chiropractors but also a few physicians, carry them as well.

Georgia Health and Medicine, a Gainesville physician practice that incorporates alternative techniques, offers a weight-loss program that includes herbal supplements, intravenous infusions of vitamins, and a low-carbohydrate diet like the one popularized by Robert Atkins.

Because of its high fat content, the Atkins diet was once thought to increase the risk of heart disease. But a Duke University study last year concluded that the plan is safe and effective for weight loss.

Fad diets still abound, however. One Gainesville chiropractic clinic advocates the "blood-type" diet, which scientists have debunked as having no physiological basis.

For consumers who prefer a medical approach to shedding pounds, the Doctors Weight Loss Center and Bariatric Medicine Associates of Gainesville offer traditional programs that include diet recommendations, weekly weigh-ins and prescription drugs such as Meridia.

These clinics see patients only for weight loss, not for treatment of illness. Their services generally aren't covered by insurance. But Teresa Vickers, company president of Doctors Weight Loss Center, says business is booming.

"We've also got offices in Cumming and Baldwin," she says. "Eighty percent of our patients are women."

For all the money to be made in helping people lose weight, there are companies that profit from helping people feel better about their current weight. Lane Bryant, a clothing retailer for plus-size women, opened a store in Gainesville last September.

Store manager Ron Alexander says it's doing well. "This is a segment of the market that's been overlooked."

According to Business Week magazine, the plus-size market is growing at 9 percent annually, compared to 4 percent for women's apparel in general. Lane Bryant spokeswoman Catherine Lippincott says the company operates 680 stores and hopes to have 1,000 within five years.

"Sixty-five percent of American women wear a size 14 or larger," she says. "Diets don't work. People lose weight for a while, but they soon gain it back. So we'll always have a strong customer base."