Losing weight and keeping it off

Project title: The maintenance of Healthy Weight for Life program effects

Start date: January 2016
Estimated end date: August 2018

What is the issue?

Participants of weight loss programs often gradually regain any weight they have lost after the program ends, and there is limited evidence about strategies that help to prevent this weight re-gain.

Healthy Weight for Life (HWFL) is a weight loss program that private health insurance company HCF offers to members who have a Body Mass Index of 28 or more (ie. those who are overweight or obese) and have osteoarthritis, a cardiovascular condition or type 2 diabetes.

The program delivers a step-by-step weight loss program over three six-week phases.

Each phase includes:

• A portion control eating plan
• Recommendations for gentle activity and physiotherapist-developed strength, balance and mobility exercises
• Personalised tracking of symptoms, progress and satisfaction
• Personal motivation, support and advice via phone, SMS, email, message board and mail.

The program has been successful in helping participants to reduce their weight by an average of 7 per cent. More than 80 per cent of participants finish the program.

HCF is interested in ways to help its members to maintain the weight they have lost after the program finishes.

How is the project addressing the issue?

The project will investigate the effectiveness of a 12-month maintenance program to maintain weight loss that participants achieve during the HWFL program.

The HWFL maintenance program is new, and will commence in July 2017. The program will provide participants with access to an online portal and access to the HWFL team who will provide individualised support to help them maintain weight loss.

While plans for the evaluation study are still being confirmed, at this stage the project team plans to use data collected by HWFL, including weight, waist circumference and dietary and physical activity behaviour, at the start, at 18 weeks, at 36 weeks and at the end of the 12-month program.

Relevance for practice

There is currently little evidence around the maintenance of weight loss after the completion of an evidence-based program. Policy makers may find this information relevant for improving existing weight loss programs.

Private health insurance companies are in a position to provide healthy lifestyle interventions to a large proportion of the population but these interventions need to be evidence based. It is important to develop intervention approaches to weight loss maintenance that are relevant to the Australian health insurance context.

What are the expected outcomes?

The project is expected to show whether a structured maintenance program helps participants of weight loss programs to maintain their weight loss longer term.