The Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Weight Loss and Body Composition in Subjects with Overweight and Obesity Participating in a Nationwide Weight-Loss Program: Impact of a Remote Consultation Follow-Up—The CO-RNPC Study

Bailly, Sébastien; Fabre, Odile; Legrand, Rémy; Pantagis, Laurent; Mendelson, Monique; Terrail, Robin; Tamisier, Renaud; Astrup, Arne; Clément, Karine; Pépin, Jean-Louis

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the nationwide total lockdown (LD) in France on weight loss and body composition modifications in subjects participating in a weight loss program and to evaluate the impact of remote consultations on participants’ adherence to the weight loss program. The CO-RNPC study was a prospective multicentre cohort study including participants undergoing a two to six months program. The rate of weight loss in kg/week was computed before (15 days), during (99 days) and after LD (15 days). In the 1550 completing participants, body weight decreased from 87.1 kg [IQR 77.0; 100.2] to 82.3 kg [72.1; 94.3] resulting in a difference of −4.79 kg [−4.48; −5.10] (p < 0.01), with a corresponding reduction in waist circumference by 4 cm ([0; 9], p < 0.01). The median weight loss was 4.4 kg [0.5; 9.4] in those who used remote consultations, and 1.4 kg [0.8; 5.7] in the no remote consultation group (p < 0.01). In this large prospective cohort, we observed that the rate of weight loss was reduced during LD. This reduction was counterbalanced in participants involved in a remote consultation follow-up with a dose-effect response based on the number of remote consultations.