Long-Term Weight Maintenance Strategies Are Experienced as a Burden by Persons Who Have Lost Weight Compared to Persons with a lifetime Normal, Stable Weight.

OBJECTIVE: To assess dietary intake, eating patterns, physical activity and eating behaviors, and to explore strategies and perceptions of the experience of weight maintenance in weight loss maintainers (weight loss maintenance (WLM) ≥ 10% weight loss maintained for ≥1 year) and in matched controls with a lifetime stable normal weight. METHODS: Volunteers (32) were recruited by a snowball procedure in this cross-sectional, mixed-methods study. Diet, physical activity, and eating behaviors were assessed with validated questionnaires. Strategies and experiences were investigated during interviews. Descriptive coding, thematic analysis (qualitative data) as well as descriptive analysis and t-tests (quantitative data) were performed. RESULTS: Both groups had similar energy and macronutrient consumption. Those in the WLM group reported higher levels of exercise and scored higher on several dimensions of eating disorders. Four themes - 'food choices,' 'quantities and portion control,' 'physical activity', and 'burden' - emerged from the qualitative data. Both groups used similar weight maintenance strategies, but those in the WLM group experienced a higher burden, expressing effortful control which contrasted with the control group's confidence in their internal cues. CONCLUSION: Our results show an additional burden related with maintaining weight loss compared to keeping a stable normal weight. They provide evidence to devise interventions that will address the difficulty of regulating intake.

[A tool for assessing eating behaviors: ESSCA]. / Un outil pour évaluer les comportements alimentaires: ESSCA.

Eating behaviors are key when considering overweight or obesity management. Many issues varying in severity can interfere with the treatment. This article provides a semi-structured interview to address the determinants of food intake--hunger food craving--problematic eating behaviors--snacking, emotional eating--and eating disorders particularly related to overweight. Convenient for healthcare practitioners, this instrument comes with an interview guide to standardize its use. The relatively complete picture of the patient's eating behavior resulting from this assessment contributes to the treatment proposal.