Cognitive and behavioural strategies for weight management in overweight adults: Results from the Oxford Food and Activity Behaviours (OxFAB) cohort study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Though many overweight and obese adults attempt to lose weight without formal support, little is known about the strategies used in self-directed weight loss attempts. We set out to assess cognitive and behavioural strategies for weight loss and their associations with weight change. METHODS: Prospective, web-based cohort study of overweight UK adults (BMI≥25kg/m2) trying to lose weight through behaviour change. Strategy use was assessed using the OxFAB questionnaire and evaluated (1) at the domain level, (2) through exploratory factor analysis, and (3) in a model of strategies deemed a priori to be "essential" to weight management. Associations with weight change at 3 months were tested using linear regression. RESULTS: 486 participants answered all questions; 194 reported weight at baseline and at 3 months (mean weight change -3.3kg (SD 4.1)). Greater weight loss was significantly associated with the motivational support domain (-2.4kg, 95% CI -4.4 to -0.4), dietary impulse control (from factor analysis) (-0.6kg, 95% CI -1.1 to -0.03), and weight loss planning and monitoring (from factor analysis) (-1.3kg, 95% CI -2.0 to -0.5). Higher scores in the model of essential behavioural strategies were significantly associated with greater weight loss (compared to participants using 6 or fewer of the 9 strategies, using 7 or more of the 9 strategies was associated with a 2.13kg greater weight loss (SE 0.58, p<0.001)). CONCLUSIONS: Despite heterogeneity in the strategies employed for weight loss, coherent patterns of behaviours emerged for individual participants, some of which were associated with greater weight loss, including strategies relating to dietary impulse control, weight loss planning and monitoring, motivational support, information seeking and self-monitoring. Trials could test the effect of promoting use of these patterns on weight loss.
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Behavioral weight management programs help provide people with the practical coping skills to change their eating behavior.
“Behavioral weight management programs help provide people with the practical coping skills to change their eating behavior.”
From The societal implications of using glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists for the treatment of obesity (2025) · cites this paper as [89]
The Background (page unavailable) says behavioural weight management programmes are designed to support dietary and physical-activity changes, and the Results describe practical strategies for managing eating. But this cohort study does not establish that programmes provide people with those coping skills; it primarily examines strategies people use in self-directed weight loss. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Hartmann-Boyce, J., Aveyard, P., Piernas, C., Koshiaris, C., Velardo, C., Salvi, D., & Jebb, S. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- ORCID
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2018-08-10
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- e0202072
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6086460
- OpenAlex
- W2887848649
- Semantic Scholar
- 5f59f0fcfa14b5604b2a14c1dded2ad07cfd0a48
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research (NIHR SPCR)
- NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Oxford at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- 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
- weight management, overweight adults, cognitive strategies, behavioral strategies, motivational support, self-monitoring, information seeking, weight change, obesity
- MeSH terms
- Body Weight Maintenance, Adult, Behavior, Cognition, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Theoretical, Time Factors, Cohort Studies, Weight Loss, Overweight
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