Effect of the Holiday Season on Weight Gain: A Narrative Review
Open accessAbstract
Several studies suggest that the holiday season, starting from the last week of November to the first or second week of January, could be critical to gaining weight. This study aims to review the literature to determine the effects of the holidays on body weight. In studies of adults, a significant weight gain was consistently observed during this period (0.4 to 0.9 kg,p<0.05). The only study in college students found an effect on body fat but not on weight (0.1 kg,p=0.71). The only study found in children did not show an effect on BMI percentile (−0.4%,p>0.05) during this period. Among individuals with obesity who attempt to lose weight, an increase in weight was observed (0.3 to 0.9 kg, significant in some but not in all studies), as well as increase in weight in motivated self-monitoring people (0.4 to 0.6%,p<0.001). Programs focused on self-monitoring during the holidays (phone calls and daily mailing) appeared to prevent weight gain, but information is limited. The holiday season seems to increase body weight in adults, even in participants seeking to lose weight and in motivated self-monitoring people, whereas in children, adolescents, and college students, very few studies were found to make accurate conclusions.
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Discrete periods of weight gain (such as those that occur during holidays) are not fully compensated and can lead to considerable weight gain over time.
“studies show that discrete periods of weight gain (such as those that occur during holidays) are not fully compensated and can lead to considerable weight gain over time [13].”
From Supporting Weight Management during COVID-19 (SWiM-C): twelve-month follow-up of a randomised controlled trial of a web-based, ACT-based, guided self-help intervention (2023) · cites this paper as [13]
The Results (§3.1; page unavailable) report that holiday weight gain persisted at one year in one adult study and accounted for about half of that year's gain. But the Limitations section (§5; page unavailable) says only two studies assessed whether the gain persisted, and the other group lost its holiday gain. The review therefore supports the possibility of lasting gain, not the broader assertion that studies show such gains are generally not compensated or lead to considerable gain over time. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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“Weight gain is associated with increased risk factors for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and related disorders [12] and studies show that discrete periods of weight gain (such as those that occur during holidays) are not fully compensated and can lead to considerable weight gain over time [13].”
Background
- Authors
- Díaz-Zavala, R. G., Castro-Cantú, M. F., Valencia, M. E., Álvarez-Hernández, G., Haby, M. M., & Esparza-Romero, J.
- Affiliations
- Universidad de Sonora (MX)
- Department of Public Nutrition and Health, Research Center for Food and Development (CIAD, A.C.), Road to Victoria km 0.6, 83000 Hermosillo, SON, Mexico
- Corresponding author
- Díaz-Zavala, Rolando G.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Obesity
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017
- Volume
- 2017
- Pages
- 1-13
- ISSN
- 2090-0708 (ISSN-L)
- 2090-0716
- PMC
- PMC5514330
- OpenAlex
- W2724900179
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 0.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Obesity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Programa para el Desarrollo Profesional Docente (PRODEP103.5/13/8926)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- holiday season, seasonal weight gain, body weight, fat mass, obesity, weight loss, self-monitoring, university students, children, adolescents, body mass index
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Child, Holidays, Humans, Obesity, Weight Gain, Narration
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