Steps to Health employee weight management randomized control trial: short-term follow-up results.

OBJECTIVE

To present the short-term follow-up findings of the Steps to Health study, a randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of two employee weight management programs offered within Duke University and the Health System.

METHODS

A total of 550 obese (body mass index, ≥30 kg/m2) employees were randomized 1:1 between January 2011 and June 2012 to the education-based Weight Management (WM) or the WM+ arm, which focused on behavior modification. Employees were contacted to complete a follow-up visit approximately 14 months after baseline.

RESULTS

There were no clinically, or statistically, meaningful differences between arms, but there were modest reductions in body mass index, and positive, meaningful changes in diet and physical activity for both arms.

CONCLUSIONS

The modest positive effects observed in this study may suggest that to achieve weight loss through the workplace more intensive interventions may be required.