Greater Weight Loss with Increasing Age in the Weight Loss Maintenance Trial

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of age on weight loss and weight loss maintenance in participants in the Weight Loss Maintenance trial (WLM). DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of overweight/obese adults with CVD risk factors. Participants were 1685 adults with baseline BMI 25–45 kg/m(2) with hypertension and/or dyslipidemia. Those who lost at least 4kg in an initial 6-month behavioral weight loss intervention (N=1032) were randomly assigned to a 30-month maintenance phase of self-directed control (SD), monthly personal counseling (PC), or unlimited access to an internet-based intervention (IT). Age groups were defined post-hoc and weight change was compared among age groups. RESULTS: Participants ≥ 60 years old initially lost more weight than younger individuals, and sustained greater weight loss in IT and PC but not in SD (p-value for trend 0.024, 0.002, and 0.36, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In WLM, adults age ≥ 60 years had greater initial weight loss and greater sustained weight loss over 3 years, compared to younger adults. Older adults had greater weight loss maintenance with either personal counseling or internet-based intervention. Future research should determine optimal implementation strategies and effects of weight loss on health outcomes in older adults.