New Medifast Survey Identifies Factors Associated with Successful Long-Term Weight Loss

BALTIMORE, Oct. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medifast (NYSE: MED) the global company behind one of the fastest-growing health and wellness communities, OPTAVIA®, recently published "Healthy Habits Associated with Successful Weight Loss Maintenance on a Commercial Program: Learnings from a Research Survey"* in the Food and Nutrition Sciences journal. The survey analyzed self-reported data collected from the OPTAVIA Community and provides useful insights into factors associated with successful long-term weight loss.** Coaches and Clients who self-reported long-term weight loss leveraged several features unique to the OPTAVIA program, such as:

• Support from an independent Coach and Community
• Aspects of the program's Habits of Health Transformational System
• Accountability derived from becoming a Coach

In fact, 93% of Coaches who self-reported successful long-term weight loss stated they "became a Coach" as a strategy to help them stick with their healthy habits – a finding that suggests contributing to the health and wellbeing of others may help an individual with their own health journey. 

This June, Medifast presented the results at Nutrition 2022, the American Society for Nutrition's annual flagship meeting. The self-reported survey was conducted by the company's team of expert scientists and researchers, led by Medifast's Scientific and Clinical Affairs Principal Scientists Christopher Coleman, MS, RDN and Jessica Kiel, MS, RDN. Consistent with existing literature, the survey also found that other common strategies reported by successful Coaches and Clients include:

• Leveraging healthy habits established during weight loss (i.e., physical activity)
• Food-related strategies (i.e., using OPTAVIA Fuelings, portion control)
• Self-regulation and active relapse management (i.e., regular weighing)

"Our clinically proven plans and scientifically developed products are important components of the Coach and Client experience," said Dan Chard, Chairman and CEO of Medifast. "Within today's ever-evolving health and wellness industry, we continue to prioritize research and development in order to deliver an effective solution that can help lead to Lifelong Transformation, One Healthy Habit at a Time."

OPTAVIA's clinically proven plans and scientifically developed products are backed by registered dietitians, behavioral experts and scientists – and empower independent Coaches to confidently provide their Clients with the tools they need to develop healthy habits.

"These self-reported findings suggest that successful strategies for long-term weight loss are consistent with OPTAVIA's unique offer," said Satya Jonnalagadda, PhD, MBA, RDN, Vice President of Scientific and Clinical Affairs at Medifast. "We have a robust Community of more than two million people whose lives we've impacted through our comprehensive plans. Gathering insights from their experiences is key to continually evaluating and improving our offer, ultimately providing our independent Coaches with evidence-based tools to best support their Clients."

About Medifast:
Medifast (NYSE: MED) is the global company behind one of the fastest-growing health and wellness communities, OPTAVIA^®, which offers scientifically developed products, clinically proven plans and the support of independent OPTAVIA Coaches and a Community to help Customers achieve Lifelong Transformation, One Healthy Habit at a Time®. As the publicly traded market leader by revenue in the U.S. $7 billion weight management industry, the company has impacted more than 2 million lives through its Community of OPTAVIA Coaches, who teach Customers how to develop holistic healthy habits through the proprietary Habits of Health® Transformational System. Medifast was recognized in 2022 as one of America's Best Mid-Sized Companies by Forbes, in 2020 and 2021 as one of FORTUNE's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies and was named to Forbes' 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in America list in 2017. For more information, visit MedifastInc.com or OPTAVIA.com and follow @Medifast on Twitter.

*The criteria for the survey research study cited below were based upon individuals who self-reported 1) a loss of ≥ 10% body weight, 2) a regain of < 25% of the weight lost over at least one year after stopping their weight loss plan and 3) not starting a new weight loss plan during that time. All results were self-reported by the OPTAVIA Community.

**This survey research study does not substantiate weight loss maintenance claims, particular weight loss strategies or results.

References:

Christopher Coleman, Jessica Kiel, Chad LaCalamita.  Successful Maintenance after Weight Loss on a Commercial Program: Habits and Benefits Among Coaches Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 6, Issue Supplement_1, June 2022, Page 1055, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac070.014

Jessica Kiel, Christopher Coleman, Chad LaCalamita.  Healthy Habits Associated with Successful Weight Loss Maintenance on a Commercial Program.  Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 6, Issue Supplement_1, June 2022, Page 1067, https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac070.026

Christopher Coleman, Jessica Kiel, Chad LaCalamita, Nicholas Frye, Lindsey Provelengios.  Healthy Habits Associated with Successful Weight Loss Maintenance on a Commercial Program: Learnings from a Research Survey.  Food and Nutrition Sciences, 2022, 13, 453-462 https://www.scirp.org/pdf/fns_2022052515210979.pdf

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SOURCE Medifast