Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 May 10;14(1):41.
doi: 10.1007/s13679-025-00634-y.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Obesity

Leah M Schumacher  1   2 , Nicole Miller  3   4 , Emma L Jennings  3   4 , Reena Chabria  3   4 , Meghan L Butryn  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Obesity

Leah M Schumacher et al. Curr Obes Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: To describe the recent literature on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) interventions for individuals with obesity. The review begins with a brief overview of the ACT model, describes seminal work in this area, and examines more recent literature on the use of ACT to improve outcomes among individuals with obesity.

Recent findings: Early trials established ACT's efficacy for weight loss among adults with obesity. More recent research has focused on testing efficacy among adolescents, measuring effects in "real world" settings, refining interventions to optimize outcomes and enhance scalability, and examining outcomes beyond weight (e.g., internalized weight stigma, eating regulation). Current data indicate that ACT-based interventions produce comparable, or, in some cases, superior weight loss compared to standard behavioral interventions. ACT has also shown promise for improving other outcomes of interest. ACT may improve a variety of obesity-related outcomes, although additional research is needed.

Keywords: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; Adherence; Obesity; Overweight; Weight Loss; Weight Stigma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent: This article does not contain any studies with human subjects performed by any of the authors. Competing Interests: MLB reports grant funding from the National Institutes of Health to study the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy, as well as royalties from Oxford University Press and New Harbinger Press for books published on the topic of acceptance and commitment therapy. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Key Components of ACT model as applied to obesity. Boxes with a thick border are section headers. Boxes with a thin border are model components. Arrows indicate hypothesized effects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Phelps NH, Singleton RK, Zhou B, Heap RA, Mishra A, Bennett JE, et al. Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults. Lancet. 2024;403(10431):1027–50. 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02750-2. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tiwari A, Balasundaram P. Public health considerations [internet]egarding obesity. StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023.
    1. Jensen MD, Ryan DH, Apovian CM, Ard JD, Comuzzie AG, Donato KA, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults: a report of the American college of cardiology/american heart association task force on practice guidelines and the obesity society. Circulation. 2014;129(25 Suppl 2):S102–38. 10.1161/01.cir.0000437739.71477.ee. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chao AM, Paul A, Hodgkins JV, Wadden TA. A guideline-directed approach to obesity treatment. Diabetes Spectr. 2024;37(4):281–95. 10.2337/dsi24-0001. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wadden TA, Tronieri JS, Butryn ML. Lifestyle modification approaches for the treatment of obesity in adults. Am Psychol. 2020;75(2):235–51. 10.1037/amp0000517. - PMC - PubMed