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Multidisciplinary Approach to Obesity Management: A Case Report
Published on: May 30, 2025
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Personalizing a Weight Loss Program Using Cognitive-Behavioral Phenotypes to Improve Engagement and Weight Loss in
Joanna Szypula1, Andreas Jarvstad1, Lucy Amelia Jones2
1School of Health and Psychological Science, City St George's, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
JMIR Formative Research
|December 1, 2025
Summary
Personalized digital weight loss advice significantly boosted user engagement in a UK National Health Service program. While not leading to significant short-term weight loss, this tailored approach shows promise for improving adherence in digital interventions.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health Interventions
- Behavioral Science
- Obesity Management
Background:
- Obesity is a major UK health concern, impacting over 25% of adults and driving significant healthcare costs.
- Digital behavior change programs offer scalable weight management support, but participant engagement remains a key challenge.
- Engagement in digital health programs is strongly linked to successful weight loss outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of phenotype-tailored weekly advice on engagement and weight loss within a national digital weight management program.
- To explore the relationship between advice utilization and study outcomes.
- To investigate potential moderation by socioeconomic status and gather participant feedback on the tailored advice.
Main Methods:
- A quasi-experimental study involving UK adults (BMI > 25 kg/m², aged 18-80) in a 12-week National Health Service digital program.
- The phenotype group (n=148) received 7 weeks of tailored advice based on a 17-item questionnaire classifying them into 1 of 4 phenotypes.
- Comparisons were made with a historical cohort (n=241) and non-responders (n=394) who did not receive tailored advice.
Main Results:
- The phenotype group exhibited significantly higher engagement (mean 257 engagements) compared to the historical cohort (mean 159) and non-responders (mean 135) (P<.001).
- Mean weight loss was -2.23 kg in the phenotype group, not significantly different from the historical cohort (-1.60 kg) or non-responders (-0.69 kg).
- Advice document opening correlated with engagement (r=0.48; P<.001) but not weight loss (P=.42); socioeconomic status did not moderate outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Phenotype-tailored advice substantially increased engagement in a real-world digital weight management program.
- While short-term weight loss differences were not statistically significant, the findings suggest phenotype tailoring may enhance adherence.
- Further randomized controlled trials with longer follow-up are needed to confirm if increased engagement leads to clinically significant weight loss.
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