The Jenny Craig diet plan, which combines portion-controlled pre-made foods with counseling, and a side dish of something homemade, was the winner of a Consumer Reports Health ranking of diet plans.

Consumer Reports Health rates diets on their adherence to the 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, participants’ weight loss and drop-out rates. With an overall score of 85 points, Jenny Craig surpassed the popular Slim-Fast (63 points) and Weight Watchers (57 points) programs.

One factor that contributed to Jenny Craig’s high ranking is 92 percent of its participants stuck with the program for two years, a long time to maintain a diet. Those participants lost an average of 8 percent of their weight.

“The point of the report is to give dieters a side-by-side comparison of the main diet programs so they can choose for themselves. Jenny Craig is worth considering, but if you don’t like the idea of eating prepackaged meals, it may not be the best option for you,” said Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor of Consumer Reports Health. “The best diet is the one that you can stay on. Because if you can’t stick with it, then you won’t lose weight, nor will you be able to keep off any weight you do manage to lose.”

— Anne Aurand, The Bulletin

Source: Ratings are available at www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org to subscribers