We have begun to publish more and more randomized controlled trials of group-based interventions designed to reduce or maintain weight loss in obese patients. Most of these studies demonstrate acute improvements in the immediate period post intervention, but few report whether the positive outcomes were sustained after the intervention program stopped and the onus for continued weight loss was placed on the shoulders of those enrolled. This week, Lloyd-Richardson et al. (
doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-3283) share the results of one randomized trial involving 118 obese teens ages 13-16 years who were randomized to receive one of two follow-up weight loss interventions after both groups received six months of cognitive behavioral treatment and nutritional counseling. One group then got an aerobic exercise regimen added into their weekly interventional activities and the other “peer-based adventure therapy” which consisted of outdoor activities focused on team-work, social skills, and self-efficacy. Anthropometric and psychosocial measures were obtained at 12 and 24 months after the study was started and interventions had ended. The great news is that reductions in obesity that were achieved in the initial six months were sustained. Just how this occurred and why, makes for an interesting discussion section in the study that you may want to initiate for overweight teens in your own practice after you review the data and outcomes.
