Antiobesity Surgery: Is a Structured Support Group Desirable? Preliminary Report

Abstract

The relevance of a post-gastroplasty physician-and dietitian-supervised support group for weight loss, dietary habits, dietary knowledge, and exercise has been assessed. Two post vertical banded gastroplasty groups were compared: those who did (n = 10) and those who did not (n = 11) attend a monthly post-gastroplasty support session. A 55-point questionnaire plus a 24-hour dietary recall and food frequency analysis were employed. Addressed were dietary and exercise history, eating habits, and factual dietary knowledge. At the time following surgery of this study (support: mean 29.7 vs no support: mean 34.9 months, NS), there was no difference in weight loss between the two groups. There was no difference in the two groups between preoperative, length of time from surgery to interview or weight at interview. Those who attended the support group consumed significantly fewer calories (1559 ± 320 vs 2278 ± 271, p 0.5), total grams of fat a day (57 ± 19 vs 118 ± 17, p 0.5), fat as percentage of total diet (26 ± 4 vs 44 ± 2, p 0.0005, and saturated fat as percentage of total diet 8 ± 1 vs 17 ± 2, p 0.0005). Attendees were more physically active than those who did not attend (236 ± 49 vs 115 ± 46 minutes exercise per week, p 0.05). Of those attending the seven monthly group session, 80% stated that it was easy to determine the fat content of food from the food label, compared to 36% in the non-support group (p 0.05). This suggests that to the postoperative period studied, weight loss is determined by the operation itself. However, we show that those who do attend are better informed, make wiser food choices, and are more physically active. To determine whether the difference in dietary habits and nutritional knowledge will result in an improved long-term weight loss, requires a more prolonged follow-up.