Health benefits of weight reduction in postmenopausal women: a systematic review

The objective of this systematic review was to determine the effect on long-term health outcomes of lifestyle interventions designed to produce weight loss in postmenopausal women. A systematic search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO and CINAHL databases retrieved four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and one controlled clinical trial (CCT) of at least 24 weeks' duration as well as one systematic review. The majority of the studies recruited from the community, had samples with similar baseline characteristics and assessed completers only. Drop-out rates varied from 2.5% to 16%. All active-treatment arms demonstrated significant improvements in weight and body composition from baseline. Significant effects between treatment groups were shown only in intervention versus control studies. Significant weight loss was not accompanied by beneficial changes in cardiovascular risk factors in the majority of studies. None of the studies of weight loss reported disease outcomes. Weight loss in active-treatment arms varied from 1.5 kg to 9 kg over 6-12 months. The study that produced the greatest weight loss demonstrated improvements in risk factors and it may be that only this one study produced sufficient weight loss to do so. Many of the studies were probably underpowered and too short in duration to detect change in risk factors. Lifestyle interventions do produce weight loss in overweight postmenopausal women and have the potential to improve disease outcomes associated with overweight.