Why treatments for obesity don't last

Abstract

Behavioral self-management training is the state of the art in the treatment of obesity. However, most of those treated experience only temporary success in keeping weight off. In some individuals, relapse appears to be related to the development of binge eating, which is characterized by perceived lack of eating control and symptoms of food dependence. Treatment for such patients should be based on the assumptions that self-management is very difficult and that emphasis should be on cognitive-behavioral methods with a reliance on social support for control of behavior. For some patients, continued use of the self-management model may result in harmful weight cycling.