What Is a Reasonable Weight Loss?: Patients' Expectations and Evaluations of Obesity Treatment Outcomes

Expert panels and governmental guidelines now recommend that obese persons seek modest (i.e., "reasonable") reductions in body weight rather than striving for "ideal" weights. Little is known, however, about patients' views of what is a "reasonable" weight loss. Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 1997-02, Vol.65 (1), p.79-85
Main Authors: Foster, Gary D, Wadden, Thomas A, Vogt, Renee A, Brewer, Gail
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Attitude to Health
Biological and medical sciences
Cohort Studies
Expectations
Female
Goals
Human
Human Females
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Medical sciences
Metabolic diseases
Obese women
Obesity
Obesity (Attitudes Toward)
Obesity - psychology
Obesity - therapy
Outcomes
Patient Satisfaction
Patients
Psychology
Relationship
Treatment
Treatment Outcome
Weight Control
Weight Loss
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Summary:Expert panels and governmental guidelines now recommend that obese persons seek modest (i.e., "reasonable") reductions in body weight rather than striving for "ideal" weights. Little is known, however, about patients' views of what is a "reasonable" weight loss. This study assessed patients' goals, expectations, and evaluations of various outcomes before, during, and after 48 weeks of treatment. Before treatment, 60 obese women (99.1 ± 12.3 kg; body mass index of 36.3 ± 4.3 kg/m 2 ) defined their goal weight and 4 other weights: "dream weight"; "happy weight"; "acceptable weight"; and "disappointed weight." Goal weight averaged a 32% reduction in body weight. A 17-kg weight loss was defined as disappointed; a 25-kg loss, was acceptable. After 48 weeks of treatment and a 16-kg weight loss, 47% of patients did not achieve even a disappointed weight. These data illustrate the dramatic disparity between patients' expectations and professional recommendations and the need to help patients accept more modest weight loss outcomes.
ISSN:0022-006X
1939-2117
DOI:10.1037/0022-006X.65.1.79