Desire to lose weight was associated with the adoption of weight control strategies but not healthier lifestyle behaviours among post‐bariatric surgery patients: NHANES 2013–2018

The desire to lose weight is presumably high among patients with severe obesity who have undergone bariatric surgery. The purpose of this study is to examine the associations of desire to lose weight with weight control strategies, depressive symptoms and lifestyle behaviours among post-bariatric surgery patients. Participants were adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2018) and self-identified a history of bariatric surgery. The desire to lose weight, weight control strategies, depressive symptoms, physical activity and sitting time were measured by self-report questionnaires. Dietary information was derived from 24-h dietary recalls. The correlates of the desire to lose weight were examined by logistic or linear regressions with appropriate weighting and variance estimation techniques, adjusting for covariates such as length of time post-surgery. Results showed that at a mean of 7.8 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.5) years post-surgery (N = 142), 88.6% of participants wanted to weigh less. The average total energy intake was 1747 (SD = 72) kcal/day with 36.2% (SD = 0.7%) of the energy from total fat; the median total moderate-intensity physical activity was 88.5 min/week; and the mean sitting time was 796.0 (SD = 47.0) min/day. The desire to lose weight was positively associated with the adoption of healthy weight control strategies (odds ratio 17.4, 95% confidence interval 3.5-87.0, p < .01). No other significant associations were observed. Findings highlight the need for studies to improve patients' lifestyle behaviours post-surgery (e.g., reduce fat intake, increase physical activity) and examine the correlates of desire to lose weight in larger samples.