SynthesisObesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity2025
Behavior change techniques in low-calorie and very low-calorie diet interventions for weight loss: A systematic review with meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Behavior change techniques in low-calorie and very low-calorie diet interventions for weight loss: A systematic review with meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- Associations of dietary intake for gut microbiota with frailty risk and mortality in older adults.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is limited evidence and clinical guidelines on the behavior change support required for low-calorie diet programs. This systematic review aimed to establish the behavior change technique(s) (BCT) implemented in weight loss interventions (≤1200 kcal/d) and how these contribute to effectiveness.
methodsDatabases were searched from inception to April 2022. Screening, data extraction, BCT coding, and quality appraisal were conducted in duplicate using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication framework, Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy, and Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool. Data were analyzed via narrative synthesis and random effects multi-level meta-analyses.
resultsThirty-two papers reporting on 27 studies were included. Twenty-four BCTs were identified across studies. Eight BCTs were significantly associated with a larger reduction in weight at the end-of-diet time-point; one BCT was statistically significant at the end of weight maintenance. Physical activity, Type 2 Diabetes, and BMI category moderated intervention effects. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This is the first meta-analysis to examine how specific BCTs contribute to the effectiveness of low-calorie diets. It is recommended that a) these findings are used to develop clinical guidelines specific to behavioral support in low-calorie diet programs, and b) program commissioners stipulate the use of these BCTs in their service specifications.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
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.