Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Multidisciplinary Approach to Obesity Management: A Case Report
Published on: May 30, 2025
A motivation-focused weight loss maintenance program is an effective alternative to a skill-based approach
D S West1, A A Gorin, L L Subak
1Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 7205, USA. WestDelia@uams.edu
Objective:
Maintaining weight loss is a major challenge in obesity treatment. Individuals often indicate that waning motivation prompts cessation of effective weight management behaviors. Therefore, a novel weight loss maintenance program that specifically targets motivational factors was evaluated.
Design:
Overweight women (N=338; 19% African American) with urinary incontinence were randomized to lifestyle obesity treatment or control and followed for 18 months. All participants in lifestyle (N=226) received the same initial 6-month group behavioral obesity treatment and were then randomized to (1) a novel motivation-focused maintenance program (N=113) or (2) a standard skill-based maintenance approach (N=113).
Main Outcome Measure:
Weight assessed at baseline, 6 and 18 months.
Results:
Both treatment groups (motivation-focused and skill-based) achieved comparable 18-month weight losses (-5.48% for motivation-focused vs -5.55% in skill-based, P=0.98), and both groups lost significantly more than controls (-1.51%; P=0.0012 in motivation-focused and P=0.0021 in skill-based).
Conclusions:
A motivation-focused maintenance program offers an alternative, effective approach to weight maintenance expanding available evidence-based interventions beyond traditional skill-based programs.
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