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Study Reveals Keys to Weight Loss

A combination of diet and exercise resulted in the most weight loss among 4,200 participants in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), a database founded in 1994 by researchers at Brown University's Alpert Medical School in Providence, R.I., and University of Colorado at Boulder to examine the behaviors of successful weight losers.

Among the participants, 89% lost weight with diet and exercise, 10% with diet alone, and 1% with exercise alone, according to results reported by co-principal investigator Suzanne Phelan, PhD, at the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society, held June 2–5 in Toronto.

Phelan notes a caveat, however: NWCR represents a self-selected sample, and is unavoidably affected by bias. "It's not a random sampling, so these may not be characteristics of all successful weight losers," says Phelan, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown.

To be included in the NWCR, a person must have lost 13 kg (28.7 lb) and must have maintained the loss for 1 year. The participants in Phelan's analysis lost an average of 33 kg (73 lb), and maintained the weight loss for an average 5.7 years. They went from an average body mass index of 37, near morbid obesity, to a current average of 25.

With an average age of 47, the sample was 77% female, 95% Caucasian, 64% married, and 82% college-educated. Participants reported a variety of approaches to dietary modification. Eighty-seven percent restricted certain foods such as desserts; 44% ate all foods but limited the quantity; 43% counted calories; 25% counted fat grams; and 20% used liquid meal-replacement formula.

Nearly half the NWCR participants achieved weight loss without outside help. Phelan and her team looked specifically at how participants maintained that weight loss, identifying several key characteristics:

• A low-calorie, low-fat diet. Participants reported an average energy intake of about 1,300 calories per day, with about 20–30% of those calories from fat.
  
• A high level of physical activity. Respondents reported expending about 2,600 calories per week, which equates to walking about 7 km (4.34 mi) or engaging in 30–90 minutes of physical activity per day.
  
• Limited TV viewing. Well over half the participants reported watching <10 hours of TV per week, and only 12% said they watched >21 hours weekly. By comparison, the average American watches 28 hours of TV weekly, according to Phelan.
  
• Frequent self-weighing. Three out of four respondents reported weighing themselves at least once a week, 44% on a daily basis, and 31% weekly.
  
• Dietary consistency. Participants tended to report eating the same type and amount of food on weekends and holidays as during the work week.
  
• Limited dietary variety. Many participants restricted their choices within food groups.
  
• Regular consumption of breakfast. Nearly 80% of participants reported eating breakfast every day.
  
• Limited fast food. Participants reported eating an average of less than one fast food meal (0.77) per week.
  

Participants also noted that their weight loss required work. "Maintaining weight loss takes some effort," Phelan says. "But the perception of effort decreases over time. It does get easier."

Footnotes

FYI

More information about the National Weight Control Registry is available at www.nwcr.ws/.

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Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Goldfarb, B. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Goldfarb, B. Social Bookmarking                What's this?