Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Behaviour change interventions for weight management have found varied effect sizes and frequent weight regain
after weight loss. There is interest in exploring whether differences in eating behaviour can be used to develop
tailored weight management programs. This secondary analysis of an 18-month weight maintenance randomised
controlled trial (RCT) aimed to investigate the association between individual variability in weight
maintenance success and change in eating behaviour traits (EBT). Data was analysed from the NoHoW trial
(Scott et al., 2019), which was designed to measure processes of change after weight loss of ≥5% body weight in
the previous year. The sample included 1627 participants (mean age = 44.0 years, SD = 11.9, mean body mass
index (BMI) = 29.7 kg/m2, SD = 5.4, gender = 68.7% women/31.3% men). Measurements of weight (kg) and
7 EBTs belonging to domains of reflective, reactive, or homeostatic eating were taken at 4 time points up to 18-
months. Increases in measures of 'reactive eating' (binge eating, p < .001), decreases in 'reflective eating' (restraint,
p < .001) and changes in 'homeostatic eating' (unlimited permission to eat, p < .001 and reliance on
hunger and satiety cues, p < .05) were significantly and independently associated with concomitant weight
change. Differences in EBT change were observed between participants who lost, maintained, or re-gained
weight for all EBTs (p<.001) except for one subscale of intuitive eating (eating for physical reasons, p=.715).
Participants who lost weight (n = 322) exhibited lower levels of reactive eating and higher levels of reflective
eating than participants who re-gained weight (n = 668). EBT domains can identify individuals who need
greater support to progress in weight management interventions.
Year
2023
Category
Refereed journal