Using changes in body composition instead of scale weight as an outcome measure for weight loss interventions

There is compelling evidence that excess weight accelerates the risk factors for most major degenerative diseases and is associated with more than 30 other health concerns. Nearly 74% of all adult Americans are currently overweight or obese, a number that continues to grow steadily, despite enormous resource expenditures to reverse this trend. However, data also suggests that these increased health risks are more a function of excess body fat than excess body weight. In fact, weight loss can be counterproductive when it results in depletion of fat-free mass. Thus, a more appropriate outcome measure for weight control interventions could be to assess the extent to which an intervention reduces excess body fat without a concomitant depletion of FFM. This ex-post facto quantitative analysis examined the extent to which different conclusions were drawn from weight loss interventions using changes in body composition instead of changes in scale weight or body mass index. Results indicated significant differences when using changes in scale weight or BCI as outcome measures. The analyses suggest that the measures were affected by the gender, age, or ethnicity of participants. Any organization involved with weight management could benefit from more accurate methods for designing and assessing weight loss interventions.