Ongoing support helps people maintain their weight after dieting.

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A new study shows that people who receive regular phone support after losing weight are better able to maintain their weight loss, but receiving additional calls when there is a risk of regaining weight adds no added benefit.

The study was conducted by Catherine M. Ross, PhD, MPH, a senior research scientist at the Advocate Aurora Research Center in the United States and an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

The study, published September 22 in JAMA Network Open, followed 255 obese adults who lost at least 5% of their initial weight during a 16-week weight loss program.

All participants received monthly phone support calls. Participants were randomly assigned to receive these calls either once a month or when triggered by an algorithm that identified them as at high risk of regaining weight.

After 20 months, both groups had maintained an average weight loss of 8% of their starting weight, and about 60% of participants had maintained at least 5% of their starting weight.

"This study is important because it shows that ongoing support really does help people maintain weight loss over time, and the results in both groups were even better than we expected," Ross said.

"We have some reasons for this, and we're excited to begin new studies to improve our algorithm for predicting weight regain."

Ross noted that these findings support providing long-term care for obesity within the chronic disease model, "just as we do for other long-term health conditions."

She said they hope "this research will encourage more clinics and health programs to provide ongoing support to help people maintain their weight."

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