Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Obesity

Maintenance of weight loss: setting our goals higher

A recent report based on nationally representative data suggests that US adults are more successful at long-term weight-loss maintenance than was previously thought. Should the benefit of weight-loss programs be re-evaluated?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Prospective Studies Collaboration et al. Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900,000 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies. Lancet 373, 1083–1096 (2009).

  2. Kraschnewski, J. L. et al. Long-term weight loss maintenance in the United States. Intern. J. Obesity doi:10.1038/ijo.2010.94.

  3. Deshmukh-Taskar, P. et al. Tracking of overweight status from childhood to young adulthood: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 60, 48–57 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Mekary, R. A., Feskanich, D., Hu, F. B., Willett, W. C. & Field, A. E. Physical activity in relation to long-term weight maintenance after intentional weight loss in premenopausal women. Obesity (Silver Spring) 18, 167–174 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sarlio-Lähteenkorva, S., Rissanen, A. & Kaprio, J. A descriptive study of weight loss maintenance: 6 and 15 year follow-up of initially overweight adults. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 24, 116–125 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bray, G. A. Medical Consequences of Obesity. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 89, 2583–2589 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wing, R. R. & Phelan, S. Long-term weight loss maintenance. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 82 (Suppl. 1), 222S–225S (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Dansinger, M. L., Tatsioni, A., Wong, J. B., Chung, M. & Balk, E. M. Meta-analysis: the effect of dietary counseling for weight loss. Ann. Intern. Med. 147, 41–50 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hamman, R. F. et al. Effect of weight loss with lifestyle intervention on risk of diabetes. Diabetes Care 29, 2102–2107 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Christakis, N. A. & Fowler, J. H. The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. N. Engl. J. Med. 357, 370–379 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares associations with the following companies: Herbalife (consultant), Vivus (consultant).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bray, G. Maintenance of weight loss: setting our goals higher. Nat Rev Endocrinol 6, 657–658 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2010.172

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2010.172

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing