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Lowering BMI in patients with type 2 diabetes: try regular breakfast, weigh-ins, no fast food
Many common weight loss strategies had no effect on BMI.
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Regularly eating breakfast, self-weighing and limiting fast food consumption may be beneficial weight loss strategies to lower BMI in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes.
Researchers with the Look AHEAD Research Group evaluated weight loss strategies related to BMI in 5,145 overweight patients with diabetes enrolled in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) clinical trial — a cross-sectional study conducted at 16 U.S. centers. All patients were aged 45 to 74 years and had a BMI of at least 25 kg/m2; 3,063 were women.
Factors weighed in
Patients with lower BMI tended to eat breakfast at least six days a week, eat five meals and snacks per day and just 1.9 fast food meals per week. In addition, 41% of patients weighed themselves at least once a week.
“Many overweight patients are concerned about stepping on the scale because they think they will just feel worse; but the reality is unless people get on the scale they will not know how their eating and activity behaviors are affecting their weight,” said researcher Hollie A. Raynor, PhD, RD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown Medical School.
The three most common weight control practices — increasing fruits and vegetables, cutting out sweets and eating less high-carbohydrate foods — were reported by 60% of patients for more than five months in the previous year. However, these popular dietary practices were actually not related to weight or BMI, Raynor told Endocrine Today.
Desire to lose weight was common among patients; 88.9% of women and 86.2% of men reported in engaging in at least one intentional weight loss strategy to lose 5 lbs or more.
When the researchers examined differences in race/ethnicity, they discovered that non-Hispanic white women had the highest prevalence of intentional weight loss (96.2%) and Native American women had the lowest (66.5%). Data revealed Native American women had the least healthy profile for weight loss strategies — they monitored weight loss less frequently, skipped breakfast more often and ate more fast food. – by Katie Kalvaitis
Diabetes Care. 2008;31:1299-1304.