title: A family and community focused lifestyle program prevents weight regain in Pacific Islanders: a pilot randomized controlled trial.
abstract: Preventing weight regain after the loss of excess weight is challenging for people, especially for ethnic minorities in the United States. A 6-month weight loss maintenance intervention designed for Pacific Islanders, called the PILI Lifestyle Program (PLP), was compared with a 6-month standard behavioral weight loss maintenance program (SBP) in a pilot randomized controlled trial using a community-based participatory research approach. Adult Pacific Islanders (N = 144) were randomly assigned to either PLP (n = 72) or SBP (n = 72) after completing a 3-month weight loss program. Successful weight maintenance was defined as participants' postintervention weight change remaining ≤ 3% of their preintervention mean weight. Both PLP and SBP participants achieved significant weight loss maintenance (p ≤ .05). Among participants who completed at least half of the prescribed sessions, PLP participants were 5.1-fold (95% confidence interval = 1.06, 24; p = .02) more likely to have maintained their initial weight loss than SBP participants. The pilot PLP shows promise as a lifestyle intervention to address the obesity disparities of Pacific Islanders and thus warrants further investigation.
authors.affiliation: University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA. kaholoku@hawaii.edu
authors.forename: Joseph Keawe'aimoku
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kaholokula
authors.forename: Marjorie K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mau
authors.forename: Jimmy T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Efird
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leake
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: Donna-Marie
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Palakiko
authors.forename: Sheryl R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: B Puni
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Kekauoha
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gomes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; D050177:Overweight / Q000628:therapy*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D061217:Weight Reduction Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*