Weight loss expectations and determinants in a large community-based sample
Open accessAbstract
While weight-loss expectations have primarily been studied in people enrolled in weight-loss programs, the present study explores patient expectations about weight-loss and identifies related determinants in a large, non-clinical population. 3916 volunteers (age > 18 years) participated in 2012 in a community-based survey in the French-speaking region of Belgium. Participants were asked to define "dream", "goal", "happy", "acceptable", and "disappointed" weights. Other self-reported measures were used to determine each participant's body mass index (BMI), body image discrepancy (BID), subjective norm (SN), weight loss activity, weight history, quality of life (QoL), and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The study focused on the determinants of unrealistic weight-loss "goal" (≥10% of initial weight). Results showed median weight loss targets ranged from 5 kg ("disappointed" weight loss) to 21 kg ("dreamed" weight loss). Respondents considered the recommended weight-loss target (5-10%) disappointing. Severe and morbid obesity categories are at high risk of unrealistic weight loss goal. Unrealistic weight-loss goals was associated with female gender, weight loss activity, overweight history and lower QoL in overweight and moderate obesity respondents. These findings confirm the urgent need to help patients accept more modest weight loss outcomes and the need for personalized care that considers the patient's specific profile and both weight loss expectations and determinants.
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This finding adds to existing literature demonstrating significant disparities between patients' expectations and what is recommended by health care providers.
“This finding adds to the existing pool of literature demonstrating significant disparities between patients' expectations and what is recommended by health care providers [30, 31], emphasizing the importance of educating patients on the range of potential weight loss outcomes and treatment response heterogeneity.”
From A Qualitative Analysis of Patient Experiences Using Semaglutide 2.4 mg for Weight Loss (2025) · cites this paper as [30]
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- Authors
- Pétré, B., Scheen, A., Ziegler, O., Donneau, A.-F., Dardenne, N., Husson, E., Albert, A., & Guillaume, M.
- Affiliations
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège (BE)
- Centre Hospitalier Régional et Universitaire de Nancy (FR)
- University of Liège (BE)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Preventive Medicine Reports
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-12
- Volume
- 12
- Pages
- 12-19
- ISSN
- 2211-3355 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6091442
- OpenAlex
- W2885750157
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 0.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Preventive Medicine Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Liège) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- European Regional Development Fund
- Belgian Public Health Authorities (50WLL/3/3/136)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- weight loss expectations, weight loss goals, body image discrepancy, subjective norms, quality of life, obesity, overweight, body mass index, gender differences, individualized care
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