Evaluation of Veterans MOVE! Program for Weight Loss

Objective: To evaluate the degree of weight loss in subjects enrolled in the Veterans Affairs weight management program (MOVE!). Design: Retrospective cohort design. Setting: Tertiary care US veterans hospital, July, 2007 to September, 2008, using a retrospective database. Participants: Adult veterans (n = 1,659), mostly men (85%). Intervention: Encounters with existing nutrition education classes were collected and outcomes were assessed. Main Outcome Measures: Primary outcome was weight change; the predictor was visits or encounters. Analysis: One-way ANOVA. Results: In this sample, >= 3 nutrition education encounters were associated with significantly more body weight loss compared with 1-2 encounters or no education (-1.62%, 0.2%, and -0.23%, respectively; P =.01). Conclusions and Implications: Three or more nutrition education encounters within the MOVE! weight management program at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center are associated with modest weight loss. Future prospective studies are needed to determine causality and confirm these findings.