ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A reasonable weight reduction method is to reduce fat-body mass while preserving fat-free mass. Recently, many people in Korea have been trying reckless diet therapy for weight reduction by means of low calory and protein diets, which gave rise to many side effects consequently. For reasonable weight reduction, this study was undertaken to investigate the significant dietary factors that change body composition during short-term low calory diet. METHODS: Twenty six healthy obese women aged 23~37 years, whose BMI was greater than 24, volunteered for the 6 week diet therapy from January to April in 2003. All subjects were instructed to eat approximately 1,200 kcal/day and keep a dietary diary. In the beginning the 3rd week and the 6th week of the study, subjects' body weight were measured and fat body weight were measured by BIA. In the 6th week, the analysis of the dietary diary was conducted. RESULTS: There was a significant positive correlation between the protein intake per ideal body weight in the first 3 weeks and the fat-free mass increase in the latter 3 weeks (P<0.05). At the same time, the fat intake in the first 3 weeks had positive correlation with the fat-free mass in the latter 3 weeks, also (P<0.05). But, we could not find any significant values that had effect on the fat-free mass increase in multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSION: The protein intake in the first 3 weeks helped to preserve the fat-free mass in the latter 3 weeks, and had positive effects.