The impact of weight loss strategies on weight change and diabetes risk may vary by baseline body weight, according to a study published in PLOS Medicine. Qi Sun, PhD, and colleagues examined associations of weight loss strategies with weight change and type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk among health professionals. The analysis included 93,110 participants aged 24-60 (11.6% men) in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), NHSII, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study who were free of T2D, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at baseline. The associations of weight loss strategy with weight change and T2D risk significantly differed by baseline body weight. Among individuals with obesity, several weight loss strategies were associated with less weight gain, with exercise being effective for reducing T2D risk as well. Among patients with overweight, a pattern was less clear, with weight change declining with
exercise but increasing for fasting, commercial weight loss programs, or diet pills. Similarly, for T2D, risk tended to decrease with exercise but increase with diet pills.
