Research
Mixed
Repeated weight loss (≥3 episodes of ≥5 kg) is associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, regardless of the total amount lost in a single episode.
If you have lost weight 3 or more times (even if each time was 5kg), your risk of heart disease and early death may be higher than if you had never lost weight. Try to maintain a stable weight rather than cycling up and down.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Participants who had lost ≥ 5 kg three times or more prior to baseline had increased rates of all-cause (HR 1.16; 95%CI 1.03–1.30) and CVD mortality (HR 1.49; 95%CI 1.20–1.85) compared to participants with no weight loss.
Why this rating
Same high-quality cohort design as N1. Self-reported data is a limitation, but the consistency of results across sensitivity analyses strengthens the finding.
Source
Prospective study of weight loss and all-cause-, cardiovascular-, and cancer mortality
Liisa Tolvanen et al. · Scientific Reports · 2023
DOI 10.1038/s41598-023-32977-8
cohort · n=34346Cited 5×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Repeated or substantial weight loss (≥5 kg, especially >10 kg or ≥3 episodes) is associated with significantly increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in men, but not in women.Good
- There is no statistically significant association between weight loss (amount or frequency) and cancer mortality in men or women.Good
Related findings · Mixed
- Bariatric surgery (VSG and RYGB) is the most effective and sustainable treatment for obesity, producing marked and sustained weight loss that non-surgical interventions cannot match.Strong
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