Month: February 2019

Newly published review supports effectiveness of meal replacement for weight loss

A new review^[1] of trials has added more support to the science behind meal replacements products (MRPs) for weight control and their effectiveness in helping people lose weight.

Published in Obesity Reviews – the official journal of the World Obesity Federation – this paper describes the findings of a systematic review with meta‐analysis of randomised controlled trials which compares the effectiveness of weight loss programmes that included MRPs with those that did not, in adults with overweight or obesity.

The main findings show that programmes incorporating MRPs as part of their dietary intervention, resulted in greater weight loss at one year than those not incorporating MRPs. Specifically, those participants who had included MRPs in their diet had lost an additional 1.44 kg at one year compared with those participants whose diet did not.

The review also showed that this greater weight loss achieved was maintained over the longer term with data being reported after four years follow-up showing a more significant degree of weight loss maintenance in participants who had undertaken programmes incorporating MRPs. Additionally, the results showed that including MRPs into a behavioural weight loss programmes improved their results by an extra 2.22 kg at one year.

This review further supports the increasingly widely held views of a both medical professionals and nutrition experts as well as that of the industry who believe that MRPs should be provided and included as an option in national health guidance for those overweight and obese individuals looking to lose weight.

As the review states, MRPs are  currently neither  recommended nor even included in the national clinical guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity, despite mounting evidence of their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. TDMR Europe continues to work towards the recognition of both MRPs and TDRs to be recognised as an economical, healthy and effective solution for weight loss. The recent UK National Health Service decision to launch a trial programme supporting TDRs for obese people with type 2 diabetes is a step in the right direction. This decision, and the growing number of research studies provide even more evidence for the effectiveness and safety of these products and, should be a sign to other European countries that TDRs and MRPs represent the future in the fight against obesity and related diseases.

 

If you’d like to be part of the conversation, please get in touch with us via secretariat@tdmr-europe.com.

 

[1] Astbury NM, Piernas C, Hartmann‐Boyce J, Lapworth S, Aveyard P, Jebb SA. A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the effectiveness of meal replacements for weight loss. Obesity Reviews. 2019;1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12816

The University of Oxford has published a paper into the cost-effectiveness of low calorie meal replacements for the treatment of obesity in the NHS, which concludes that replacing all regular meals with a low calorie diet of soups, shakes and bars, together with behavioural support, is cost-effective as a routine treatment for obesity. Welcoming the publication of the study, Professor Anthony Leeds, Chairman of TDMR Europe said:

“We very much welcome the results of this study. Health care costs are higher among older and heavier people so it is not a surprise to find that GP referral to a Total Diet Replacement (TDR) programme delivered in the community is most cost effective among those over 50 years and those with a BMI over 35. This fits with the typical age and weight of people with Type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis and other obesity-related co-morbidities.”

“Total Diet Replacement weight loss programmes should now be offered to people with recently diagnosed Type 2 diabetes based on the DiRECT diabetes remission trial, and to the elderly with osteoarthritis based on Danish studies which have shown pain reduction and 10% weight loss and maintenance for four years in TDR users. Quality of life is improved and there are reductions in use of medications – including those for high blood pressure because TDR lowers blood pressure.”

The paper, by Seamus Kent and colleagues at the Nuffield Departments of Population Health and Primary Care Sciences, University of Oxford, used the data from the recently published DROPLET randomised controlled trial set in primary care centres around Oxford in which GPs randomly allocated patients to either a TDR programme delivered commercially in the community by Cambridge Weight Plan Consultants, or to usual care, delivering the best possible weight loss with conventional guidance from the practice nurses.