Role of Behavioral Interventions in the Management of Obesity

Overweight and obesity are the leading lifestyle-related causes of clinical and public health concerns. Health behavior change is central in obesity management. This review provides the various behavioral interventions in the management of obesity. Behavior modification is a structured method for improving lifestyle habits such as exercise, diet, and other practices that might influence behavior. This review article was based on current and older literature on behavioral approaches to target overweight/obesity. Articles about the various interventions to reduce obesity, particularly behavior interventions, were searched and explored. All the articles found to reveal behavior modification techniques, including goal-setting, self-monitoring, stimulus control, cognitive restructuring, stress management, problem-solving, and social support and information were obtained by reading the full text of the articles. The articles which did not provide any information regarding behavior interventions to reduce obesity were excluded from the review. This review discussed practical ways to incorporate behavior interventions in the management of obesity. The benefits and effectiveness of behavioral interventions on achieving and maintaining weight loss are also discussed. Patients using behavioral modification strategies to make these changes are more likely to succeed in long-term weight maintenance.