Research Article

Absolute Weight Loss, and Not Weight Loss Rate, Is Associated with Better Improvements in Metabolic Health

Table 1

Subject characteristics.

VariableSlow WLRRec WLRFast WLR
NMean (SD)NMean (SD)NMean (SD)

Age (y)917952.6 (13.1)185152.4 (12.7)25150.7 (11.5)
Sex (%male)26.1%33.9%60.1%
Treatment time (mo)12.2 (12.6)15.1 (14.7)15.0 (15.5)
BMI (kg/m2)39.3 (7.2)42.7 (8.2)47.8 (10.8)
Weight (kg)109.3 (23.8)121.9 (26.9)142.4 (28.7)
 Δ weight (kg)−5.0 (5.4)−13.3 (8.7)−24.7 (13.4)
Overall WLR (kg/wk)−0.13 (0.11)−0.37 (0.24)−0.73 (0.51)
Early WLR (kg/wk)−0.19 (0.14)−0.61 (0.11)−0.93 (0.46)
SBP (mmHg)9109128 (13)1840132 (14)249135 (15)
 Δ SBP (mmHg)−3 (13)−7 (14)−9 (15)
DBP (mmHg)907378 (8)183679 (8)24782 (9)
 Δ DBP (mmHg)−2 (9)−4 (9)−6 (10)
Glucose (mM)13446.0 (1.5)3055.8 (1.3)416.0 (1.2)
 Δ glucose (mM)−0.1 (0.9)−0.2 (0.9)−0.5 (0.9)
Triglyceride (mM)15241.6 (0.8)3461.5 (0.8)461.4 (0.7)
 Δ triglyceride (mM)−0.1 (0.6)−0.1 (0.6)−0.2 (0.5)
HDL (mM)22531.26 (0.33)4691.20 (0.32)671.10 (0.25)
 Δ HDL (mM)0.02 (0.15)0.06 (0.17)0.05 (0.15)
Waist (cm)4868120.1 (15.5)1360126.5 (16.8)172140.2 (16.1)
 Δ waist (cm)−4.2 (6.7)−9.5 (8.3)−15.2 (11.9)
Weight loss med use (%)917914.6%185117.0%25318.1%

Slow WLR (<0.45 kg/wk), Rec WLR (0.45 to 0.9 kg/wk), or Fast WLR (≥0.91 kg/wk) during the initial 3–6 month. Different from Slow WLR (). Different from Rec WLR ().