New Delhi, March 2: When trying to lose weight, it may be good to step on the scales daily, a team of US researchers has suggested.

They have found that among 47 overweight men and women, those who measured their weight every day for six months displayed healthier lifestyles and lost 6kg more weight on average than those who weighed themselves five days a week.

Not all clinical nutritionists, however, agree that daily weight-watching is the best way to achieve the behaviour changes required to lose weight.

The findings of Duke University researcher Dori Steinberg and her colleagues have just been published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

They found that the daily weight-watchers adopted 17 weight-loss behaviour changes, from reducing calorie intake and decreasing their portions of desserts to exercising 30 minutes a day, compared with 11 adopted by the five-day weight-trackers.

The scientists say the findings provide fresh data to "encourage prescribing daily weighing" for people trying to lose weight.

But several clinical nutritionists did not appear enthusiastic about the recommendation.

"Daily weighing has pros and cons," said Ritika Samaddar, a consultant clinical nutrition specialist at a private hospital in New Delhi.

"Regular monitoring can indeed help people modify their diet more frequently and target goals better, but even minor gains in weight observed daily may prompt some people to eat inadequately or inappropriately and develop nutritional deficiencies."

Samaddar said she had observed people who measured their weights daily get worried about subtle changes in their weights and skip meals or deviate from their prescribed diet plans, developing deficiencies in micronutrients such as iron or calcium.

Some nutritionists say weight-watching isn't the only way to monitor progress.

"The number on the scale doesn't show the composition of the weight," said Kruttika Bhide, a clinical nutritionist in Mumbai.

"Since most people want to lose fat, the composition of the weight lost or gained is a critical part of any weight loss regimen."

Those trying to lose weight, Bhide said, should not be obsessed with the weighing scale or be hard on themselves.

"There are several ways to benchmark progress. My advice is to focus on bringing about permanent lifestyle alterations."