Nutritional and behavioral factors related to weight gain after bariatric surgery

Weight regain (WR) after bariatric surgery is common. Several factors involved in WR have been identified, but there has been little research on specific eating habits such as eating snacks rather than regular meals and being a "sweet-eater".

To determine whether nutritional status, energy and macronutrient intake, eating behaviors and habits were associated with WR in the postoperative period.

We conducted a case-control study of patients who had undergone bariatric surgery. Cases were defined as those patients who gained ≥ 15% of weight in the first two years after surgery and controls as those who gained < 15% of weight. Participants completed a 24-hour dietary recall by phone; weight history was obtained from the medical chart. Logistic regression was used to identify nutritional and behavioral factors significantly related to WR.

Fifty-four cases (77% female, 57% had undergone sleeve gastrectomy) and 50 controls (70% female, 58% had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery) participated. Their mean age was 43 and 40 years, respectively. We observed four eating and lifestyle habits independently associated with greater odds of post-surgery WR, namely being a "sweet-eater", a "grazer", sedentarism and consuming more daily calories.

Eating more daily calories, being a "sweet-eater", a "grazer", and sedentarism were factors related with a greater risk of regaining weight after surgery.