A Descriptive Study of Past Experiences with Weight-Loss Treatment

Abstract

Background Overweight and obesity affect more than 60% of the adult population in the United States. Most adults who are overweight have a history of previous weight-loss treatment. Exploring individuals’ past experiences with weight-loss treatment may allow improvements to the current approach to treatment. Objective To examine individuals’ prior experiences with weight-loss treatment, their treatment preferences, and what they found to be most and least satisfying. Design Cross-sectional descriptive study. Subjects/setting Individuals (N=155) who had registered for a weight-loss study wait list and met standard criteria for a weight-loss program (aged 18 to 55 years and body mass index between 25 and 42). Methods Questionnaire packets were mailed to participants. Statistical analyses performed Descriptive analyses of the participants’ past history with weight-loss treatment, treatment preference, self-efficacy, therapeutic efficacy, barriers to adherence to weight-loss treatment, barriers to healthy eating, and experiences associated with following a low-fat diet. Results One hundred ten participants (71%) returned completed questionnaire packets. The sample (82% white, 84% female, aged 42.6±8.5 years, and body mass index 33.5±5.3) was representative of those who seek weight-loss treatment in research settings. Participants were, on average, aged 21.1±8.9 years when they first tried a weight-loss program; 96.3% had tried to lose weight since that first time. The two most frequently tried programs were doing it on their own (93.5%) and commercial programs (70.8%). Barriers included having trouble controlling what I eat when hungry (71.3%), difficulty motivating myself to eat appropriately (66.2%), and using food as a reward (59.3%). Preferred weight-loss regimens were doing it on their own (30.6%) and a research program (22.4%). Conclusions Participants were not seeking their preferred treatment. These data can be used to improve weight-loss programs by tailoring programs to meet the needs and preferences of participants.