Research
Adherence
Intentional weight loss in overweight or obese diabetic patients is not associated with a significant change in all-cause mortality compared to weight stability.
If you are diabetic and obese, attempting to lose weight intentionally (through diet and exercise) does not appear to increase your risk of death compared to staying the same weight. However, ensure you are not losing muscle mass and are maintaining good glycemic control.
ModerateRefutesMEDIUM confidence
intentional weight loss was not associated with changes in all-cause mortality (RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.67 to 1.22).
Why this rating
Based on only 3 studies included in the intentional weight loss subgroup analysis, with high heterogeneity (I2=86%).
Source
Weight loss increases all-cause mortality in overweight or obese patients with diabetes
Yiqi Chen et al. · Medicine · 2018
DOI 10.1097/md.0000000000012075
Meta-analysis · 8 studiesCited 29×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- In overweight or obese adults with diabetes, unintentional or general weight loss is associated with a statistically significant increase in all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality compared to weight stability.Good
- In overweight or obese diabetic patients, higher initial BMI (specifically >35 kg/m2 and >40 kg/m2) is associated with a dose-dependent increase in all-cause mortality.Good
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
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