Motivation of Participants in Healthy Weight Loss Workshops for Weight Maintenance

BACKGROUND: An individual's decision to maintain weight is not enough without a strong motivational reason. Reasons to improve health, change body image, increase self-confidence, feel good, be more active and have a social life help to focus and motivate a healthy lifestyle. AIM: The aim of this study is to identify personal, social and environmental factors that influence the motivation to maintain a reduced weight among participants in healthy weight loss workshops. METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive, non-experimental method of empirical research was used. The measurement instrument employed was a questionnaire that was completed by 160 participants of healthy weight loss workshops. For statistical analysis we used the binomial test to analyze whether the results matched the defined expectations and the Mann-Whitney U test to analyze the importance of individual factors in motivation for weight maintenance. RESULTS: Healthy weight loss workshop facilitators found that weight loss and appearance improvement (x̄ = 4.4), desire for a changed, more beautiful body image (x̄ = 4.3), concern for well-being (x̄ = 4.2), concern for health and low self-esteem (x̄ = 4.2) were the most prevalent reasons for participation among workshop participants. They also note that there is a need for individualized weight loss maintenance plans (p<0.001) and for the inclusion of additional content to motivate weight maintenance in healthy weight loss programs (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Participants of healthy weight loss workshops are aware of the adoption of a healthy lifestyle for weight management and maintenance after the completion of healthy weight loss workshops, which is largely dependent on personal, social and environmental factors.