Modest weight loss enhances clinical control over cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in overweight and obese individuals. This study aimed to assess the associations between individual weight loss and predefined criteria for clinical improvement in blood pressure, lipid levels, and glycemia. A two-year follow-up study involved 3388 (37.9% men) aged 45-64 years, BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. Changes in body weight were calculated as a percentage of baseline weight; outcome variables: systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, high-density (HDL-C) and low-density (LDL-C) lipoproteins, fasting blood glucose (FBG), and triglycerides (TG) were construed as the differences between baseline and outcome values. Clinically significant improvement was defined as SBP/DBP reduction by 5 mm/Hg, FBG-20 mg/dL, LDL-C-10 mg/dL, TG-40 mg/dL, and HDL-C increase by 5 mg/dL. Apart from LDL-C, a modest 5%-10% weight loss was associated with clinically significantly improved outcomes. The incident rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals for clinical improvement of SBP were: 1.27 (1.14-1.40), DBP/1.30 (1.12-1.50), HDL/1.54 (1.18-2.02), and TG/1.69 (1.32-2.17). In the higher category of weight loss, associations were still manifest, although the results proved diagnostically challenging (low number of cases). Even though modest weight loss does enhance clinical control over CVD risk factors, offering regular medical guidance to patients is postulated to further boos the anticipated outcomes.
Keywords: cardiovascular risk factors; obesity; prevention; public health; weight loss; weight maintenance.