ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2023
The Association Between Goal Setting and Weight Loss: Prospective Analysis of a Community Weight Loss Program.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Optimizing Goal Difficulty in a Digital Weight Loss Intervention: The Ignite Pilot Randomized Trial.Obesity science & practice · 2026Article
- Screening, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Staging of Obesity in Adults: Standards of Care in Overweight and Obesity-2026.BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2026Review
- Review of the Use of Digital Therapeutics for Obesity Treatment: Toward a Psychological Phenotyping.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
- Beyond the Scale: Setting Goals for Outcomes Beyond Weight in Evidence-based Obesity Treatment.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Nutritional and lifestyle supportive care recommendations for management of obesity with GLP-1 - based therapies: An expert consensus statement using a modified Delphi approach.Obesity pillars · 2026Review
- Article
- Health Motivation as a Predictor of mHealth Engagement Across BMI: Cross-Sectional Survey.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Article
- The association of motivational factors with weight loss and treatment time in a publicly funded weight management clinic.Clinical obesity · 2025Article
- ACTION Malaysia-perception and barriers to obesity management among people with obesity and healthcare professionals in Malaysia.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Effectiveness and acceptance of virtual reality vs. traditional exercise in obese adults: a pilot randomized trial.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Validation of a personalized AI prompt generator (NExGEN-ChatGPT) for obesity management using fuzzy Delphi method.Biology methods & protocols · 2025Article
- Article
- Assessing the accessibility and quality of mobile health applications for the treatment of obesity in the German healthcare market.Frontiers in health services · 2024Review
- The Association Between Goal Setting and Weight Loss: Prospective Analysis of a Community Weight Loss Program.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- What Happens to Adults, From Different Socio-Economic Backgrounds, Who Join a Community Weight Management Programme? Long-Term Outcomes up to Nine Years After First Joining.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGoal setting aids health-related behavior changes; however, the influence of different types of goals on weight loss remains unclear.
objectiveWe aimed to investigate the association of 3 aspects of goal setting with weight and program dropout over a 24-week period.
methodsThis study was a prospective longitudinal analysis of participants in a 12-week digital behavioral weight loss program. Weight and engagement data for eligible participants (N=36,794) were extracted from the database. Eligible participants were adults in the United Kingdom who had enrolled in the program, had a BMI ≥25 kg/m
resultsOf the 36,794 participants (mean 46.7, SD 11.1 years; 33,902/36,794, 92.14% female) included in the cohort, 13.09% (n=4818) reported weight at 24 weeks. Most participants set goals of 5%-10% weight loss (23,629/36,794, 64.22%), but setting goals for >10% was associated with greater weight loss (mean difference 5.21 kg, 95% CI 5.01-5.41; P<.001). There was no difference between goals of 5%-10% and <5% (mean difference 0.59 kg, 95% CI 0.00-1.18; P=.05). Appearance was the most prevalent motivational factor (14,736/36,794, 40.05%), but health and fitness were associated with greater weight losses (mean difference health vs appearance 1.40 kg, 95% CI 1.15-1.65; P<.001 and mean difference fitness vs appearance 0.38 kg, 95% CI 0.05-0.70; P=.03). Goal preference had no association with weight. Engagement was an independent predictor of weight loss but not a mediator of the effect of goal setting. At 24 weeks, those who set goals of >10% were less likely to drop out compared with 5%-10% goals (odds ratio [OR] 0.40, 95% CI 0.38-0.42; P<.001); those who liked to set overall high goals were more likely to drop out compared with medium goals (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.11-1.29; P<.001); and those motivated by fitness or health were less likely to drop out compared with appearance (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85-0.995; P=.04 and OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.78-0.89; P<.001, respectively).
conclusionsSetting higher weight loss goals and being motivated by health or fitness were associated with greater weight loss and lower likelihood of dropout. Randomized trials for setting these types of goals are required to confirm causality.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.