Zeitschrift für Adipositas- und Gewichtsverlusttherapie

Abstrakt

Gender Differences in the Outcome of Obesity Treatments and Weight Loss Maintenance - A Systematic Review

Nanette Stroebele-Benschop, Antje Damms-Machado, Florence Marie P Milan, Carolin Hilzendegen and Stephan C Bischoff

Obesity is one of the major health concerns of today. The aim of the study was to review existing literature comparing gender differences in Weight Loss (WL) and Weight Loss Maintenance (WLM). A systematic review of published studies (to November 2009) examining WL and WLM and provided results separated by gender was conducted. Two reviewers selected studies for inclusion, assessed quality, and extracted data. The database search identified 1072 references for screening and 229 were selected for possible inclusion. A search update in August 2011 identified an additional 186 references and 62 were selected for possible inclusion. Fifty-four studies were included. Seventeen studies included surgical WL procedures and 37 studies examined nonsurgical WL treatments. For both types of WL treatment, about half of the studies reported higher absolute WL in men whereas the other half of the studies reported no gender differences. The majority of the 12 studies on WLM reported no gender differences. Meta-analysis revealed higher relative weight loss in men compared to women. WL treatment outcome appears to be in favour of WL in men. More research attention should be paid to gender specifics regarding WL treatment and WLM.