Improving Weight Loss Maintenance: The International Weight Control Registry

Most people who lose weight voluntarily are not able to maintain that weight loss over the long-term. The International Weight Control Registry (IWCR) was established to learn more about factors that impact weight loss and weight loss maintenance. The IWCR is an online registry that enrolls persons with overweight and obesity who are have previously attempted to lose weight (either successfully or unsuccessfully), who are in the process of losing weight, or who intend to lose weight in the future. Information is collected on biological, behavioral, environmental, and psychosocial factors. With this online registry, it will be possible to: 1) test specific hypotheses about factors that impact weight loss and weight loss maintenance 2) Use discovery science to develop new hypotheses for how combinations of factors in specific people in specific contexts are associated with successful weight loss maintenance 3) Provide long-term follow-up for people who lose weight to facilitate the study of weight loss maintenance. Speaker James Hill, Ph.D. Director, University of Alabama Nutrition Obesity Research Center Professor of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham Moderator Leah D. Whigham, PhD, FTOS Associate Professor, Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences Director, UTHealth Center for Community Health Impact