Research

Adherence

Setting weight loss as a prioritized goal during a patient-centered life-coaching consultation with a general practitioner significantly increases the likelihood and magnitude of weight loss in young adults with psychosocial problems compared to no consultation or non-weight-focused consultation.

If you are struggling with weight and have other life stressors, ask your doctor for a dedicated 'life coaching' or 'preventive health' consultation. Explicitly state that weight loss is your top priority for the coming year. This structured discussion, focusing on your personal barriers and resources, is more effective than standard brief advice.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Having a preventive consultation and obtaining a weight loss as the first priority for better quality of life in the coming year (OR = 4.6) and pre-interventional consideration of weight loss within 30 days (OR = 3.4) were the most important predictors in unadjusted analysis.
Jørgen Lous et al. · BMC Family Practice · 2016

Why this rating

Post-hoc analysis of an RCT with moderate sample size (n=160 for analysis) and self-reported weight data, but with rigorous statistical controls.

Source

Predictors of weight loss in young adults who are over-weight or obese and have psychosocial problems: a post hoc analysis

Jørgen Lous et al. · BMC Family Practice · 2016

DOI 10.1186/s12875-016-0437-8

rct · n=495Cited 5×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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