Overweight and obesity due to poor diet and physical inactivity contribute significantly to the burden of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cognitive impairment and premature mortality( Reference Murray, Richards and Newton 1 ) with associated health and social care costs. Obesity prevalence varies by age, gender and socio-economic status( Reference Moody 2 ) and adults tend to gain weight with age, particularly if they are physically inactive( Reference Golubic, Ekelund and Luben 3 ). Local authorities have commissioned lifestyle weight management interventions for priority groups and the evaluation of intervention outcomes is necessary to monitor cost-effectiveness( Reference Logue, Allardice and Gillies 4 ). Anonymised data was used from Live Well Suffolk records and ethical approval was not required. Eligibility for both interventions was restricted to black and minority ethnic groups, full time carers, those with a mental health condition or from deprived postcode areas and the weight management (WM) programme was limited to those with BMI > 28 kg/m2 plus a medical condition or BMI > 30 kg/m2. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two interventions which were implemented at Live Well Suffolk: 1) Weight management (WM), 2) Physical activity and healthy eating (PA & HE).
* p > 0·05 indicating no significant difference between the 2 groups. **BMI was significantly greater in the WM group.
The mean weight change was – 2·24 kg (−2·19 %) in the WM group which was significantly greater (p < 0·05) than - 0·9 kg (−1·17 %) in the PA and HE group.
Derived by unmatched ANOVA for between age group comparison, followed by LSD post hoc test; *weight change in the WM intervention in the youngest age group was significantly lower (p < 0·05) than in the older age groups but not in the PA & HE intervention where there was no significant difference.
No significant difference was found in either mean weight change or mean % weight change by gender within each intervention. In conclusion, mean absolute and % weight loss were significantly greater in the WM intervention and overall, 50/193 overweight and obese participants achieved at least 3 % weight reduction.