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One of the most valuable tools for medical professionals helping patients with their weight-loss is developing an understanding of what motivates them implement and maintain the changes required for weight-loss to be successful. In this article we discuss a limited study from the University of Surrey that considers various motivators and suggests how future studies ought to proceed in their research of this topic.

The study, which was published in Open Obesity Journal, was a survey considering behavioural and cognitive motivators. The sample consisted of 292 participants between the ages of 40 and 50 with an average BMI of 32 that were taking part in a weight-loss programme. Of these, only 15 were men. The majority of participants had attempted weight loss one or two times in the past.

The key findings, which were analysed via regression analysis, indicated that making the changes for oneself, satisfying appetite with low density meals so as not to feel hungry between meals and a healthy diet flexible enough to be incorporated into social events were strong motivators. In terms of behaviour changes, it appeared that eating less unhealthy snacks, decreasing the amount of TV watching, cooking food from scratch and eating fewer ready meals were seen as helpful changes. In contrast to that, attempting a diet to please friends, family and doctors, lack of convenience and feeling hungry appeared to be the least effective motivators and were often cited as reason for quitting past attempts.

Although this study is interesting, it is not very strong in terms of how the data was obtained or applicable to all individuals attempting weight loss. Given that the sample was non-random and included individuals that had sought out a weight-loss program it could be argued that these may have had a different motivation from the target population to begin with. Although the authors have argued that this is what makes the sample interesting, we fail to see reported evidence indicating how long the participants have maintained their weight-loss. The fact that all data was gathered using retrospective self-reporting is also a concern as self-reporting is known to be a risk of bias due to forgetting or selectively remembering aspects of events. The study would have benefited significantly from corroborating the data or using forced choice questions in order to avoid socially desirable answers.

Overall, we understand the need for the study and regret that it was not conducted with adherence to common scientific principles. The challenge of losing weight is not to be underestimated, and with common relapses and failed attempts it is important to find ways to stay motivated. Although the study was not ideal, many of the findings can be seen as useful areas to think about when monitoring an individual’s weight-loss process. We are therefore publishing this in the hopes of describing common situations in the weight loss process and highlighting the need for better studies regarding weight loss motivation.

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