Antiobesity Surgery: Is a Structured Support Group Desirable? Preliminary

The relevance of a post-gastroplasty physician-and dietitian-supervised support group for weight loss, dietary habits, dietary knowledge, and exercise has been assessed. Two post vertical banded gastroplasty groups were compared: those who did (n = 10) and those who did not (n = 11) attend a monthly post-gastroplasty support session. A 55-point questionnaire plus a 24-hour dietary recall and food frequency analysis were employed. Addressed were dietary and exercise history, eating habits, and factual dietary knowledge. At the time following surgery of this study (support: mean 29.7 vs no support: mean 34.9 months, NS), there was no difference in weight loss between the two groups. There was no difference in the two groups between preoperative, length of time from surgery to interview or weight at Interview. Those who attended the support group consumed significantly fewer calories (1559 +/- 320 vs 2278 +/- 271, p