Changes in body composition, physical performance and cardiovascular risk factors after a 3-week integrated body weight reduction program and after 1-y follow-up in severely obese men and women

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the short-and medium-term (ie, at 1-y follow-up) effects of a hospital-based body weight reduction (BWR) program lasting 3 weeks in severely obese individuals. Design: Longitudinal, clinical intervention study entailing energy-restricted diet, tailored aerobic-strength exercise, psychological counselling and nutritional education during a 3-week period followed by 49 weeks of indirect supervision at home. Subjects: In all, 45 women and 19 men aged 30.277.2 y (mean7s.d.) with severe obesity (BMI: 41.374.3 kg/m 2 ), classified as weight losers (finaloinitial weight) and regainers (finalZinitial weight). Interventions: Body composition, physical performance and cardiovascular risk factors before and after the BWR program and at follow-up. Results: The large majority of the experimental subjects obtained a clinical success after the 1-y period, and the rate was higher in females (n ¼ 37/45, ie, 82.2%) than in males (n ¼ 11/19, ie, 57.9%). At follow-up, weight losers had higher percent fat-free mass, muscle strength, HDL-cholesterol and self-reported physical activity level and lower total cholesterol and glucose levels than weight regainers (Po0.05-0.01). Males displayed significantly larger fat-free mass losses than females at post-BWR and at follow-up. Conclusions: A 3-week hospital-based integrated BWR program resulted in a high rate of clinical success in severely obese individuals at 1-y follow-up (particularly in females), that was associated with increased levels of self-reported physical activity and improved muscle strength and lipid profile. Further research is needed to establish the long-term effects (ie, at 2-5 y) associated to this treatment.

Muscle Force and Force Control After Weight Loss in Obese and Morbidly Obese Men

“…For several of these experiments, the weight loss was significantly smaller than that noted for our morbidly obese patients (for example, 10% in Trombetta et al [13] and 9% in Kraemer et al [12]). In addition, a physical activity program was included in previously reported weight loss interventions [23,24]. In some studies, the physical activity program (often resistance training) did not only preserve muscle strength but even increased it [12,23,24].…”

“…Figure 3 shows the magnitude of the decrease for each group in percentage of the maximal force level observed at baseline. We also computed a relative maximal force by dividing the maximal force by the weight at the time of testing [24]. Relative maximal force for the upper limb increased for morbidly obese and obese individuals (57.8% and 20.6%, respectively).…”

Effect of polymorphisms in the PPARGC1A gene on body fat in Asian Indians

“…There appears to be a stronger association of this polymorphism with fat measures in NGT subjects than type 2 diabetic subjects. One of the explanations for this finding could be that in diabetic individuals, body fat distributions may change because of alterations in diet, exercise 32 and medications. For example, metformin is associated with weight loss and glitazones with weight gain and changes in body fat distribution.…”

Effects of obesity on functional capacity

“…For example, the study of Maffiuletti et al reported a clinical success (higher percent of fat-free mass, muscle strength, HDL-cholesterol, increased self-reported physical activity level, and lower total cholesterol and glucose levels) after a hospital-based, body weight reduction program lasting 3 weeks for severely obese individuals, in particular females (23).…”