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A national, nonprofit, low-cost, peer-led weight-loss program led to the maintenance of clinically significant weight loss for an extended period of time, according to researchers.

In the Taking Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) program and among participants who kept up their program membership, the cumulative mean weight change as a percentage of initial weight ranged from -6.0% for 74,629 participants who renewed at 1 year to -8.3% for 2,289 participants with 7 years of consecutive annual renewal, reported Nia S. Mitchell, MD, MPH, of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, and colleagues.

This is the first time that any national weight-loss program has looked at everybody who joined over a 7-year period and said this is what happens to the people who come back, Mitchell said.

Mitchell said she believes that low cost and high accessibility are what make TOPS a successful program. Because only four people are needed to start a peer-led, local TOPS chapter, the program is more readily available to people in rural areas who may not have a large enough base for a commercial program, she explained.

TOPS also emphasizes community support and personal accountability, which Mitchell said helps to keep people on track with their weight-loss goals. In addition to educational programs, weekly TOPS meetings include a full roll call.

If someone hasnt shown up for a couple times, people are going to call them and ask whats going on versus other programs where if you dont show up, theres no accountability, she said. TOPS is very much about support, and most people like to have that support so they continue to come back.

While the study showed that people who stayed with the program were able to sustain weight loss, it did not include any data on people who dropped out of the program, and that was a study limitation, the authors pointed out.

Mitchells group conducted a longitudinal weight change study of TOPS members who joined from Jan. 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2011.

Participants pay $90 a year in membership fees and chapter dues. The chapters meet weekly. Participants are weighed privately and then take part in group educational programming on nutrition, physical activity, and behavior modification.

There is no penalty if members miss weekly meetings, and members are encouraged to continue to attend meetings even if they do not lose weight, the authors explained.

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TOPS for Long-Term Weight Loss? | Fitness Seed

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Home » Long Term Weight Loss » TOPS for Long-Term Weight Loss? | Fitness Seed