Easier long-term care to help keep weight off
Optimizing an extended care intervention to promote weight loss maintenance
This project tries four low-effort support strategies to help adults who lost at least 5% of their weight keep it off over a year.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Alabama at Birmingham NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Birmingham, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11330531 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, you would first complete a 6-month weight loss phase and, if you lose at least 5% of your weight, be enrolled in a 12-month program. Participants (about 272 people) will be randomly assigned to receive between zero and four 'minimally disruptive' supports alongside a core extended care program using a factorial design. Examples of the supports include limiting high-calorie food variety, low-dose home resistance training done twice a week, and buddy training and support, with a fourth complementary component. The trial uses an optimization framework to find which mix of low-burden strategies best helps people maintain weight loss.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults aged 21 and older who have completed an initial weight-loss program and lost at least 5% of their body weight are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People under 21, those who did not achieve the initial 5% weight loss, or those unable to follow modest home exercise or diet changes may not benefit from this program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could offer simple, sustainable tools people can use to reduce weight regain after initial weight loss.
How similar studies have performed: Previous extended-care behavioral programs have sometimes slowed weight regain, but long-term maintenance remains difficult, so this trial tests newer low-burden ways to improve outcomes.
Where this research is happening
Birmingham, United States
- University of Alabama at Birmingham — Birmingham, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dutton, Gareth R — University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Study coordinator: Dutton, Gareth R
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.