The role of post-therapeutic support after weight loss in obesity treatment is not fully understood. Therefore, weight maintenance after a successful weight loss intervention is not very common, especially in obese individuals. This randomized controlled study was conducted to explore the efficacy of following dietary and psychological support in a group of 36 obese individuals. Participants (22 women, 14 men aged 35.58 ± 9.85 years, BMI 35.04 ± 3.80 kg/m2) who completed a 12-month weight loss phase (balanced energy-restricted diet) were randomly allocated to receive 18-month support (SG) or no additional care (CG). The support phase included some elements of Ten Top Tips (TTT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI) in combination with nutritional education and assessment of the level of physical activity. The primary outcome was the maintenance of anthropometric parameters at an 18-month follow-up. The secondary outcomes included evaluation of biochemical parameters and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes connected with obesity. A comparison of SG vs. CG after a 30-month period of the study revealed significant differences in weight changes (-3.83 ± 6.09 vs. 2.48 ± 6.24 kg), Body Mass Index (-1.27 ± 2.02 vs. 0.72 ± 2.12 kg/m2), visceral adipose tissue (-0.58 ± 0.63 vs. 0.45 ± 0.74 L), and waist circumference (-4.83 ± 4.05 vs. 1.83 ± 5.97 cm). Analysis of SNPs (rs9939609 FTO, rs987237 TFAP2B, and rs894160 PLIN1) provided further insight into the potential modulating effect of certain genotypes on weight loss and maintenance and extended the knowledge of the potential benefits of personalized medicine. Post-therapeutical support in current clinical practice may increase the chances of long-term weight loss maintenance in obesity treatment even in patients with a genetic predisposition to excessive weight.
Keywords: body composition; energy-restricted diet; obesity; obesity treatment; weight loss; weight loss maintenance; weight regain.