Daily Steps During Nutritional Lifestyle Modification Programs for Obesity Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Increasing daily steps during weight management programs remains one of the most common recommendations; however, why, when and how many is still unclear. To clarify this, we aim to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: The study was conducted in adherence to the PRISMA guidelines on randomized controlled trials (RCTs), that included weight loss (WL) interventions based on lifestyle modification programs (LSMs), compared to "as usual care" considered as controls, to whom both daily steps and WL% were reported or retrievable at baseline (Time 0), end of WL phase (Time 1, WL1%), and weight maintenance phase (Time 2, WL2%), for both arms. RESULTS: = 0.02), both with WL2%. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary study results support that during LSM programs, patients should be encouraged to increase their daily steps during the WL phase, targeting approximately 8500 steps/day and maintaining these levels during the maintenance phase, since this strategy appears to be a useful behavioral approach associated with maintaining significant WL in the long term.