Empirical evidence does not support an association between less ambitious pre-treatment goals and better treatment outcomes: a meta-analysis

Summary Setting realistic weight loss goals may play a role in weight loss. We ed data from randomized controlled trials and observational studies conducted between 1998 and 2012 concerning the association of weight loss goals with weight loss. Studies included those that (i) were conducted in human...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Obesity reviews Vol. 14; no. 7; pp. 532 - 540
Main Authors:	Durant, N. H., Joseph, R. P., Affuso, O. H., Dutton, G. R., Robertson, H. T., Allison, D. B.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-07-2013 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:	Body Mass Index Desired weight loss outcomes Goals Humans obesity Obesity - psychology Obesity - therapy overweight Treatment Outcome Weight Loss weight loss goals
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Summary Setting realistic weight loss goals may play a role in weight loss. We ed data from randomized controlled trials and observational studies conducted between 1998 and 2012 concerning the association of weight loss goals with weight loss. Studies included those that (i) were conducted in humans; (ii) delivered a weight loss intervention; (iii) lasted ≥6 weeks; (iv) assessed baseline weight loss goals; (vi) assessed pre‐ and post‐weight either in the form of body mass index or some other measure that could be converted to weight loss based on information included in the original study or later provided by the author(s); and (vii) assessed the correlation between weight loss goals and final weight loss or provided data to calculate the correlation. Studies that included interventions to modify weight loss goals were excluded. Eleven studies met inclusion criteria. The overall correlation between goal weight and weight at intervention completion was small and statistically insignificant ( ρ ̂ = 0.0 5 ; P = 0.20). The current evidence does not demonstrate that setting realistic goals leads to more favourable weight loss outcomes. Thus, our field may wish to reconsider the value of setting realistic goals in successful weight loss.
Bibliography:	istex:1C28913BA75CF5755F1C55B098958342724319C1 NIH - No. P30DK056336 ark:/67375/WNG-N5G8JLWV-7 ArticleID:OBR12038 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 ObjectType-Review-3 content type line 23
ISSN:	1467-7881 1467-789X
DOI:	10.1111/obr.12038