Research

Hormonal

Anti-obesity medication (AOM) administered in primary care settings produces approximately double the weight loss compared to lifestyle interventions alone, achieving an additional ~3 kg reduction.

If you are working with a primary care provider to lose weight, adding an FDA-approved anti-obesity medication to your lifestyle plan can roughly double your weight loss results compared to lifestyle changes alone. However, be prepared for the possibility that you may need to stay on the medication long-term to maintain the loss, as weight regain is common when stopping treatment.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Interventions that included a medication component (alone or as part of a multipronged intervention) achieved a greater weight reduction by −2.94 kg (p < 0.0001).
Leigh Perreault et al. · Frontiers in Medicine · 2023

Why this rating

Meta-analysis of 7 RCTs, but with substantial heterogeneity (I2=86%) and publication bias.

Source

A closer look at weight loss interventions in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Leigh Perreault et al. · Frontiers in Medicine · 2023

DOI 10.3389/fmed.2023.1204849

Meta-analysis · 7 studiesCited 6×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →