Research
Mixed
Combining diet therapy (reduced food intake) and exercise therapy significantly increases the odds of achieving moderate weight loss (≥3 kg but <6 kg) compared to using either therapy alone or no therapy.
If you are obese and want to lose weight, combining dietary changes with exercise is significantly more effective than doing just one. The study shows that doing both increases your odds of losing 3-6 kg significantly compared to doing either alone.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Our results indicated that all levels of weight loss were significantly associated with combined diet and exercise therapy among individuals who tried to lose weight in the past year.
Why this rating
Cross-sectional observational study using large national survey data; establishes correlation but not causation.
Source
The Effects of Weight Control Behaviors among Korean Obese Adults
Li-Ly Kang et al. · Korean Journal of Family Medicine · 2018
DOI 10.4082/kjfm.17.0021
cross_sectional · n=9461Cited 3×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Combining diet, exercise, and medication therapy significantly increases the odds of achieving moderate weight loss (≥6 kg but <10 kg) compared to combined diet and exercise therapy alone.Moderate
- Only the combination of diet, exercise, and medication therapy was significantly correlated with significant weight loss (≥10 kg) in this study population.Limited
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
- Severely protein-deficient diets (2–3% energy) induce lean body mass loss and metabolic imbalance, whereas adequate protein intake (0.66 g/kg/d minimum) is a prerequisite for maintaining muscle, bone, and physiological function.Strong
- For patients with Class III obesity (BMI >39.9 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) is significantly more effective than any currently approved medication, with BilioPancreatic Diversion (BPD) showing the highest estimated weight loss.Strong
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