The successful adolescents reported increased exercise levels, drinking less soda, walking more/climbing stairs and self-weighing. Overall, a higher percentage of adolescents who lost weight reported using 6 or more Healthy Weight Control Behaviors compared to those who did not lose weight. Fewer of the adolescents who lost weight reported using any of the Structured Behavior strategies assessed. Of note, there were no differences identified between the groups regarding the use of Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors or Extreme Dietary Changes.

Kerri Boutelle, PhD, and co-authors state, "First of all, our findings provide a glimpse of optimism that adolescents can lose a significant amount of weight and maintain this weight loss. Second, our findings suggest that there are no magical solutions, and that behaviors such as eating more fruits and vegetables and eating less fat and decreasing sedentary time seem to offer the most promise for success...Self-weighing may be a helpful monitoring tool for overweight adolescents; in the current study, the largest percentage of adolescents who lost weight reported weighing themselves on a weekly basis, while the largest percentage of adolescents who did not lose weight reported weighing themselves less than monthly. Lastly, unhealthy weight control behaviors were not associated with being in the group that lost weight. Adolescents would benefit from hearing this information from dietitians and other health care providers to prevent development of unhealthy weight control behaviors. Findings from the current study have the potential to guide both future research studies and clinical interventions on obesity in adolescents."

Source: Elsevier Health Sciences