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A motivation-focused weight loss maintenance program is an effective alternative to a skill-based approach

International Journal of Obesity volume 35, pages 259–269 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Objective:

Maintaining weight loss is a major challenge in obesity treatment. Individuals often indicate that waning motivation prompts cessation of effective weight management behaviors. Therefore, a novel weight loss maintenance program that specifically targets motivational factors was evaluated.

Design:

Overweight women (N=338; 19% African American) with urinary incontinence were randomized to lifestyle obesity treatment or control and followed for 18 months. All participants in lifestyle (N=226) received the same initial 6-month group behavioral obesity treatment and were then randomized to (1) a novel motivation-focused maintenance program (N=113) or (2) a standard skill-based maintenance approach (N=113).

Main Outcome Measure:

Weight assessed at baseline, 6 and 18 months.

Results:

Both treatment groups (motivation-focused and skill-based) achieved comparable 18-month weight losses (−5.48% for motivation-focused vs −5.55% in skill-based, P=0.98), and both groups lost significantly more than controls (−1.51%; P=0.0012 in motivation-focused and P=0.0021 in skill-based).

Conclusions:

A motivation-focused maintenance program offers an alternative, effective approach to weight maintenance expanding available evidence-based interventions beyond traditional skill-based programs.

Trial Registration:

clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00091988.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by grants U01DK067860, U01 DK067861 and U01 DK067862 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Funding was also provided by the Office of Research on Women's Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases or the National Institutes of Health. See online Supplementary materials for full author acknowledgements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    D S West

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    A A Gorin

  3. University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    L L Subak & M Schembri

  4. San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA

    L L Subak

  5. Departments of Medicine and Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    G Foster

  6. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    C Bragg

  7. The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    J Hecht

  8. Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    R R Wing

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  1. D S West
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for the Program to Reduce Incontinence by Diet and Exercise (PRIDE) Research Group

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Correspondence to D S West.

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West, D., Gorin, A., Subak, L. et al. A motivation-focused weight loss maintenance program is an effective alternative to a skill-based approach. Int J Obes 35, 259–269 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.138

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