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Daily self-weighing and weight gain prevention: a longitudinal study of college-aged women

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Abstract

Daily self-weighing has been suggested as an important factor for weight loss maintenance among samples with obesity. This study is a secondary analysis that examined daily self-weighing in association with weight and body composition outcomes over 2 years among young women with vulnerability for weight gain. Women (N = 294) of varying weight status completed self-weighing frequency questionnaires and weight was measured in the clinic at baseline, 6 months, 1, and 2 years; DXA scans were completed at baseline, 6 months and 2 years. Multilevel models examined the relationship between daily self-weighing (at any point in the study) and trajectories of BMI and body fat percentage. Daily self-weighing was associated with significant declines in BMI and body fat percent over time. Future research is needed to examine causal relations between daily self-weighing and weight gain prevention. Nonetheless, these data extend the possibility that daily self-weighing may be important for prevention of unwanted weight gain.

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Funding

This study was funded by NIH RO1 DK072982.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Diane L. Rosenbaum, Hallie M. Espel, Meghan L. Butryn, Fengqing Zhang & Michael R. Lowe

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Diane L. Rosenbaum

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  1. Diane L. Rosenbaum
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  2. Hallie M. Espel
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  4. Fengqing Zhang
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  5. Michael R. Lowe
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Correspondence to Diane L. Rosenbaum.

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Conflict of interest

Diane L. Rosenbaum, Hallie M. Espel, Meghan L. Butryn, Fengqing Zhang, and Michael R. Lowe declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and animal right and Informed consent

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Rosenbaum, D.L., Espel, H.M., Butryn, M.L. et al. Daily self-weighing and weight gain prevention: a longitudinal study of college-aged women. J Behav Med 40, 846–853 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-017-9870-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-017-9870-y

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