With Americans' waistlines growing larger each year, government officials yesterday released guidelines for drugmakers getting into the obesity drug business.

According to a Reuters report, the FDA proposed that companies should prove their products can help people lose weight and keep it off for at least a year. It also urged them to study people with a body mass index of at least 30 or those with a BMI of at least 27 with diabetes, heart disease or other weight-related conditions.

The full guidelines are posted by the FDA at http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/07d-0040-gdl0001.pdf.

-- Amanda Barrett, amNY.com