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Among the tactics of a well-run workplace wellness program can be various types of coaching around health concerns, including managing one's weight. Indeed, we've reported on some coaching benefits here and here.

Now a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows the “efficacy of a weight loss maintenance program compared with usual care in obese adults.”

The study is titled “Maintenance of Weight Loss After Initiation of Nutrition Training: A Randomized Trial.” It states: “The maintenance intervention, delivered primarily by telephone, addressed satisfaction with outcomes, relapse-prevention planning, self-monitoring, and social support. Usual care involved no contact except for study measurements.”

MedPage Today reports that “According to results from a 56-week randomized trial of more than 220 obese adults, estimated mean weight regain was significantly lower among those in the intervention (0.75 kg) compared with the usual care (2.36 kg) group (estimated mean difference 1.60 kg, 95% CI 0.07-3.13; P=0.040), reported Corrine I. Voils, PhD, scientific director of the Wisconsin Surgical Outcomes Research Program, and colleagues.”

The post continues: “Similarly, estimated weight regain was lower in the intervention group than the usual care group at week 42.”

The study concludes: “An intervention focused on maintenance-specific strategies and delivered in a resource-conserving way modestly slowed the rate of weight regain in obese adults.”

Voils wrote to MedPage Today: “This study showed that we can modestly reduce the rate of weight regain using brief telephone calls that focus on skills that we believe are important for helping people keep the pounds off. After losing an average of 16 pounds initially, the maintenance group regained less than 2 pounds, whereas the usual care group regained more than 5 pounds.” Voils continued: “Patients likely need ongoing support and training in skills that can help them keep the weight off.”