Research

Energy balance

Repeated intensive lifestyle interventions (ILIs) consisting of hypocaloric diet and daily physical activity lead to progressive, cumulative weight loss and maintenance, with only modest weight regain between interventions.

If you are severely obese, a single short-term diet and exercise program is unlikely to keep the weight off long-term. However, participating in repeated, structured residential programs (approx. 3 months each) with a moderate caloric deficit and daily exercise can lead to significant, cumulative weight loss over several years. The key is not expecting the first attempt to be permanent, but using repeated interventions to progressively lower your baseline weight.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The cumulated weight loss at follow-up increased with the number of interventions from one to four: 12.2±0.1, 15.9±0.7, 16.1±1.2 and 18.5±2.0 kg (p<0.001).
Sune Dandanell et al. · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · 2017

Why this rating

Retrospective chart review with significant loss to follow-up (50% after one intervention) and potential positive selection bias.

Source

Repeated lifestyle interventions lead to progressive weight loss: A retrospective review chart study

Sune Dandanell et al. · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · 2017

DOI 10.1177/1403494817693709

cohort · n=2120Cited 12×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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