Effect of a Family Medicine Wellness Group Program on Long-Term Weight Loss Maintenance Outcomes

Both the prevalence of obesity and weight-related illness continue to rise. While weight loss strategies are plentiful, the weight loss is usually temporary and evidence-based strategies for sustaining weight loss remain elusive.

Weight loss outcomes of participants in a Wellness Group (WG) visit program, which provided education and support around healthful behavioral modification, led by a family physician and dietitian were analyzed. We performed a chart review to extract last recorded weights for participants. Using statistical analyses, we analyzed weight loss outcomes for all included participants in their initial group, as well as a subgroup analysis of weight loss maintenance 1 to 13 years after the initial group for those who initially lost clinically important (≥5%) weight. We examined the effects of gender, age, and starting Body Mass Index (BMI) on weight loss and weight loss maintenance outcomes.

A total of 310 patients were included in the analysis. Participants lost a mean of 6.5% of their body weight in their first group. After an average of 6.6 years, participants had maintained an average of 3.5% weight loss. 58% of participants lost clinically important weight in their first group, and of those patients, 54% maintained clinically important weight loss. In addition, we found that participation in multiple groups was associated with improved CIWL, and that the participants with the highest starting BMIs (class III obesity) maintained more weight loss than those who were overweight.

This retrospective observational study demonstrates sustainable weight loss achieved by the majority of participants who initially lost clinically important weight in a WG program.