Weight outcomes audit in 1.3 million adults during their first 3 months’ attendance in a commercial weight management programme

Abstract

BackgroundOver sixty percent of adults in the UK are now overweight/obese. Weight management on a national scale requires behavioural and lifestyle solutions that are accessible to large numbers of people. Evidence suggests commercial weight management programmes help people manage their weight but there is little research examining those that pay to attend such programmes rather than being referred by primary care. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of a UK commercial weight management programme in self-referred, fee-paying participants.MethodsElectronic weekly weight records were collated for self-referred, fee-paying participants of Slimming World groups joining between January 2010 and April 2012. This analysis reports weight outcomes in 1,356,105 adult, non-pregnant participants during their first 3 months’ attendance. Data were analysed by regression, ANOVA and for binomial outcomes, chi-squared tests using the R statistical program.ResultsMean (SD) age was 42.3 (13.6) years, height 1.65 m (0.08) and start weight was 88.4 kg (18.8). Mean start BMI was 32.6 kg/m2 (6.3 kg/m2) and 5 % of participants were men. Mean weight change of all participants was −3.9 kg (3.6), percent weight change −4.4 (3.8), and BMI change was −1.4 kg/m2 (1.3). Mean attendance was 7.8 (4.3) sessions in their first 3 months. For participants attending at least 75 % of possible weekly sessions (n = 478,772), mean BMI change was −2.5 kg/m2 (1.3), weight change −6.8 kg (3.7) and percent weight change −7.5 % (3.5).Weight loss was greater in men than women absolutely (−6.5 (5.3) kg vs −3.8 (3.4) kg) and as a percentage (5.7 % (4.4) vs 4.3 % (3.7)), respectively. All comparisons were significant (p < 0.001). Level of attendance and percent weight loss in the first week of attendance together accounted for 55 % of the variability in weight lost during the study period.ConclusionsA large-scale commercial lifestyle-based weight management programme had a significant impact on weight loss outcomes over 3 months. Higher levels of attendance led to levels of weight loss known to be associated with significant clinical benefits, which on this scale may have an impact on public health.

The Impact of Shame, Self-Criticism and Social Rank on Eating Behaviours in Overweight and Obese Women Participating in a Weight Management Programme

“…Compared to average participants in the programme these women lost more weight and attended for longer. Start height, weight and age were similar to average participants of the programme [41]. …”

The Impact of Self-Criticism and Self-Reassurance on Weight-Related Affect and Well-Being in Participants of a Commercial Weight Management Programme

“…Data on employment status, ethnicity and socioeconomic status were not collected in this survey. However, data from a larger audit of participants of this programme suggest that their socioeconomic characteristics reflect the Index of Multiple Deprivation score distributions of the general UK population (within 1-3% across all 5 quintiles) [57]. The remainder of the questionnaire took the form of Likert-type scales, asking questions about self-criticism and self-reassurance in relation to weight, negative and positive affect related to weight, and mental well-being as described above.…”

Perceptions of adults with overweight/obesity and chronic musculoskeletal pain: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

“…Furthermore, only one in‐depth qualitative study has explored comorbidity from the perspective of adults actively engaged in weight loss (Janke & Kozak, ). However, the study was conducted in the USA with male participants; thus, the findings may not translate to a UK context, where women predominate in the uptake of weight management services (Stubbs, Morris, Pallister, Horgan, & Lavin, ). In‐depth qualitative research is therefore important to further understand how adults actively seeking weight management perceive the relationship between their weight and pain.…”