ReviewPhysiology & behavior2013
Biological mechanisms that promote weight regain following weight loss in obese humans.
Review in Physiology & behavior, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
86 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 185 citations in OpenAlex.
- ZumbaInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Coated glucose microbeads stimulate enteric hormone release and improve glucose tolerance in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2025Trial
- Using stereotype violation to shift causal understanding and attitudes about weight.Eating behaviors · 2024Trial
- Determinants favoring weight regain after weight-loss therapy among postmenopausal women.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Influence of Short-Term Hyperenergetic, High-Fat Feeding on Appetite, Appetite-Related Hormones, and Food Reward in Healthy Men.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Strength exercises during physical education classes in secondary schools improve body composition: a cluster randomized controlled trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2018Trial
- Obesity in Living Kidney Donors from Risk to Ethics: Bridging Gaps in Evaluation and Management.Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN · 2026Review
- Weight regain after obesity treatment: mechanisms, predictors, and real-world evidence from the IGOBE program.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2026Review
- Effects of a single dose of psilocybin on diet-induced weight loss in obese mice.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Association between body weight time in target range and risk of type 2 diabetes in adults with obesity.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2026Article
- Do Weight Suppression and Body Mass Index Predict Daily Body Image and Eating Urges in Non-Clinical Adults?European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026Article
- Activation of human brown adipocytes alters the plasma fatty acid profile.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2026Article
- Obesity as a Chronic Disease: A Narrative Review of Evolving Definitions, Management Strategies, and Cardiometabolic Prioritization.Advances in therapy · 2025Review
- Bone marrow neutrophil density regulates myelopoiesis during obesity and weight loss.The Journal of experimental medicine · 2025Article
- A Short-Term Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Tirzepatide Versus Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity in Greece.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Interplay Between Psychological and Neurobiological Predictors of Weight Regain: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Semaglutide 2.4 mg versus Liraglutide 3 mg for the Treatment of Obesity in Greece: A Short-Term Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2025Article
- Walking economy and exercise efficiency in successful weight loss maintainers.Physiology & behavior · 2025Article
- Optimal calorie restriction threshold: effect of FATmax exercise combined with different proportions of calorie restriction on hypercholesterolemia.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Weight loss dieting remains the treatment of choice for the vast majority of obese individuals, despite the limited long-term success of behavioral weight loss interventions. The reasons for the near universal unsustainability of behavioral weight loss in [formerly] obese individuals have not been fully elucidated, relegating researchers to making educated guesses about how to improve obesity treatment, as opposed to developing interventions targeting the causes of weight regain. This article discusses research on several factors that may contribute to weight regain following weight loss achieved through behavioral interventions, including adipose cellularity, endocrine function, energy metabolism, neural responsivity, and addiction-like neural mechanisms. All of these mechanisms are engaged prior to weight loss, suggesting that these so called "anti-starvation" mechanisms are activated via reductions in energy intake, rather than depletion of energy stores. Evidence suggests that these mechanisms are not necessarily part of a homeostatic feedback system designed to regulate body weight, or even anti-starvation mechanisms per se. Although they may have evolved to prevent starvation, they appear to be more accurately described as anti-weight loss mechanisms, engaged with caloric restriction irrespective of the adequacy of energy stores. It is hypothesized that these factors may combine to create a biological disposition that fosters the maintenance of an elevated body weight and works to restore the highest sustained body weight, thus precluding the long-term success of behavioral weight loss. It may be necessary to develop interventions that attenuate these biological mechanisms in order to achieve long-term weight reduction in obese individuals.
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What OpenQuestion 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 OpenQuestion graph.