The Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Weight Loss and Body Composition in Subjects with Overweight and Obesity Participating in a Nationwide Weight-Loss Program: Impact of a Remote Consultation Follow-Up—The CO-RNPC Study

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 2152
• Main Authors: Bailly, Sébastien, Fabre, Odile, Legrand, Rémy, Pantagis, Laurent, Mendelson, Monique, Terrail, Robin, Tamisier, Renaud, Astrup, Arne, Clément, Karine, Pépin, Jean-Louis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 23.06.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Body composition; Body mass index; Body weight; cohort studies; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 infection; Eating behavior; France; Human health and pathology; Intensive care; Life Sciences; Lifestyles; Medical supplies; Obesity; Overweight; Pandemics; Physiological aspects; Population; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Shelter in place; waist circumference; Weight control; weight loss; France; remote consultations; COVID-19 pandemic; weight loss program; total lockdown
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13072152

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the nationwide total lockdown (LD) in France on weight loss and body composition modifications in subjects participating in a weight loss program and to evaluate the impact of remote consultations on participants’ adherence to the weight loss program. The CO-RNPC study was a prospective multicentre cohort study including participants undergoing a two to six months program. The rate of weight loss in kg/week was computed before (15 days), during (99 days) and after LD (15 days). In the 1550 completing participants, body weight decreased from 87.1 kg [IQR 77.0; 100.2] to 82.3 kg [72.1; 94.3] resulting in a difference of −4.79 kg [−4.48; −5.10] (p < 0.01), with a corresponding reduction in waist circumference by 4 cm ([0; 9], p < 0.01). The median weight loss was 4.4 kg [0.5; 9.4] in those who used remote consultations, and 1.4 kg [0.8; 5.7] in the no remote consultation group (p < 0.01). In this large prospective cohort, we observed that the rate of weight loss was reduced during LD. This reduction was counterbalanced in participants involved in a remote consultation follow-up with a dose-effect response based on the number of remote consultations.