Coaching for the treatment of obesity and overweight: a systematic review

Coaching is increasingly used to treat obesity or overweight. We conducted a systematic review to explore the intervention's characteristics, effectivity, and quality of the published studies. The search was carried out on Pubmed, Scielo and Scopus databases. We considered studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2014 and 2019 in English and Spanish. Following PRISMA guidelines, we selected and analyzed 22 articles, 46% of which were randomized controlled trials. Most of the studies had moderate quality, according to the risk of bias assessment carried out by three independent researchers based on the Study Quality Assessment Tool. Seventy seven percent of interventions targeted adults, and their duration ranged between two and 19 months. They were delivered in both private and public contexts, with face-to-face or remote interventions and combined techniques, mainly from the United States (82%). The interventions showed a 51% effectiveness in reducing weight, increasing physical activity, and changing eating habits. We conclude that coaching might be an effective therapeutic strategy for obesity and overweight.