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Weight loss and possible reasons for dropping out of a dietary/behavioural programme in the treatment of overweight patients
Author(s) -
Garaulet M.,
PérezLlamas F.,
Zamora S.,
Tebar F. J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-277x.1999.00163.x
Subject(s) - medicine , weight loss , overweight , obesity , physical therapy , pediatrics , demography , sociology
Summary Objectives: To evaluate the weight loss of a dietary/behavioural weight reduction programme and causes for drop‐out. Methods: 90 overweight patients with a mean weight of 79±17 kg and BMI of 28.8±5 kg m −2 who attended a clinic to lose weight were subjected to a dietary/behavioural weight reduction programme. Treatment consisted in behavioural therapy with nutritional education, diet and physical activity. To evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment the following were considered: percentage of individuals who completed the treatment, weight reduction, average rate of weight reduction and percentage of individuals who completed the follow‐up period. To determine the reasons for dropping out, an open‐ended questionnaire was administered by telephone by trained clinical personnel. Results: 43% of patients completed the treatment, mean weight loss was 9 kg and the mean rate of weight loss was 0.8 kg week −1 . Reasons for dropping out were: vacations (23%), search for faster or fad diets (23%), social pressures (11%), excessive duration of the treatment (9%); failure to understand the diet (9%); differences within the group (7%); and illness and pregnancy (7%). Conclusions: Dietary/behavioural treatment is effective in clinical practice and especially adequate for men and young women. It is not satisfactory for individuals with very high BMI (> 35 kg m −2 ). Vacations, social causes and the search for ‘miracle’ diets were the principal reasons for drop‐out.