Miriam study shows keys<br> to long-term weight loss

RESEARCHERS FROM  The Miriam Hospital have published one of the first studies of its kind to follow weight loss maintenance for individuals over a 10-year period. / COURTESY MIRIAM HOSPITAL
RESEARCHERS FROM The Miriam Hospital have published one of the first studies of its kind to follow weight loss maintenance for individuals over a 10-year period. / COURTESY MIRIAM HOSPITAL

Researchers from The Miriam Hospital have published one of the first studies of its kind to follow weight loss maintenance for individuals over a 10-year period. The results show that long-term weight loss maintenance is possible if individuals adhere to key health behaviors. The study was published in the January 2014 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
J. Graham Thomas was lead author on the 10-year observational study of self-reported weight loss and behavior change in nearly 3,000 participants. The participants had lost at least 30 pounds and had kept if off for at least one year when they were enrolled in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR).
Participants were then followed for 10 years. Thomas explains that the goal of the study was to determine how well they kept the weight off and to identify predictors of successful weight loss maintenance.
“On average, participants maintained the majority of their weight loss over this extended follow-up period,” Thomas said in a statement, “and better success was related to continued performance of physical activity, self-weighing, low-fat diets, and avoiding overeating.”
Other findings from the study show that more than 87 percent of the participants were estimated to be still maintaining at least a 10 percent weight loss at years five and 10. The researchers found that a larger initial weight loss and longer duration of maintenance were associated with better long-term outcomes. Conversely, they found that decreases in physical activity, dietary restraint and self-weighing along with increases in fat intake were associated with greater weight regain.
“This is one of the only studies to follow weight loss maintenance over such a long term,” Thomas said. “What the results tell us is that long-term weight loss maintenance is possible, but it requires persistent adherence to a few key health behaviors.”

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