Weight gain since menopause and its associations with weight loss maintenance in obese postmenopausal women

Abstract

Objective

To examine the association between weight gain since menopause and weight regain after a weight loss program.

Methods

Participants were 19 obese women who participated in a 15-week weight loss program and a 12-month follow-up. Main outcomes were: body composition, resting metabolic rate, energy intake, energy expenditure, and weight regain at follow-up.

Results

All body composition measures significantly decreased after intervention (all P ≤ 0.01) while all measures of fatness increased significantly after the 12-month follow-up (P ≤ 0.01). Body weight gain since menopause was associated with body weight regain (r = 0.65; P = 0.003) after follow-up even after adjustment for confounders.

Conclusion

Weight gain since menopause is associated with body weight regain following the weight loss program. Therefore, weight gain since menopause should be considered as a factor influencing weight loss maintenance in older women.

Keywords:

• obesity
• body weight
• weight regain
• postmenopausal women
• aging

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (MS, DRB, and IJD), and was performed in part at the Centre de recherché Clinique Étienne-Le Bel and the Centre de recherche sur le vieillissement de Sherbrooke, both centers funded by the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec. We would also like to thank the research nurses.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.