Binge eating, less self-monitoring lead to regain in successful weight losers

Overeating in response to internal and external food cues as well as declines in self-monitoring and body image contribute to weight regain in successful weight losers in a weight-management program, reports a recent study.

A total of 2,843 participants in WeightWatchers who had maintained weight loss ≥9.1 kg for at least a year (mean 25.5 kg for 3.5 years; body mass index, 26.7 kg/m²) were included in this study.

The investigators administered validated behavioural, psychosocial, and home environmental questionnaires at study entry and 1 year later. They also performed discriminant analysis to determine variables that discriminated gainers (≥2.3-kg gain) from maintainers (±2.3-kg change).

Of the participants, 43 percent were gainers (mean, 7.2 kg) and 57 percent were maintainers (mean, 0.4 kg) at 1-year follow-up. Gainers were younger and had higher initial weight, more recent weight losses, and larger initial weight losses than maintainers.

Changes at 1 year that were most predictive of weight gain were as follows: greater decrease in the capacity to accept uncomfortable food cravings, urges, and desires to overeat (0.232); self-monitoring (0.166); body image (0.363); and body satisfaction (0.194) and greater increases in disinhibition (0.309) and bodily pain (0.147). The canonical correlation stood at 0.505 (p<0.001).

“Future interventions to prevent regain should consider targeting overeating in response to internal and external food cues and declines in self-monitoring and body image,” the investigators said.