Real-World Twelve-Month Weight Loss Outcomes in a Comprehensive Obesity Care Program Utilizing Individualized Nutrition Therapy and Incretin-Based Obesity Medications
- Design
- Retrospective cohort · 4269 participants · Intermediate outcome
- Match to healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75
- Population unclearUNKNOWN: adults enrolled in a telemedicine obesity care program; the abstract reports no BMI, age or diabetes status.
- Could weight loss explain it?
- Not applicableNot applicable: the outcome is weight loss itself.
- Study tier
- PreliminaryPRELIMINARY: a medRxiv preprint, not peer reviewed; as a single retrospective cohort it would otherwise be capped at LOW.
- Assessment
- Version 3 · Two reviewers differed; settled by a recorded ruling · Oct 19, 2026
Study facts come from the paper. Population match, weight-loss explanation and study tier are our judgments, made against the reference group of healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75. This item has not been peer reviewed.
This retrospective study, a preprint that has not been peer reviewed, looked back at 4,269 adults in a telemedicine obesity program taking semaglutide or tirzepatide, with or without individualised carbohydrate-reduced nutrition therapy. Adding nutrition therapy was associated with more weight loss at 12 months (for semaglutide users 30.7 vs 24.1 lb; for tirzepatide users 45.9 vs 34.4 lb). Everyone took the drugs, so the study does not compare the drugs with no drug, and as an observational study it shows an association, not cause.
01Findings
What the study reported
- Drugs
- Semaglutide, Tirzepatide
- Comparator
- IOM-based care without structured nutritional therapy (IOM only); both arms received incretin-based medication
- Primary outcome
- 12-month weight loss, VINT+IOM versus IOM only
- Effect
- Adjusted 12-month weight loss with VINT+IOM versus IOM only: GLP-1-naive semaglutide users 30.7 vs. 24.1 lb (P=0.01); tirzepatide users 45.9 versus 34.4 lb (P=0.003); overall cohort 29.4 versus 21.5 lb (P<0.001). Both arms received incretin medication, so the contrast is nutrition therapy, not the drug.
- 95% confidence interval
- Not extracted
- P value
- P=0.01 (semaglutide); P=0.003 (tirzepatide); P<0.001 (overall)
- Follow-up
- 12 months
- Adverse events
- not reported in abstract
- Limitations
- Preprint, not peer reviewed; retrospective comparison of non-randomised care pathways within one program, open to confounding; no BMI, age or diabetes data in the abstract.
Who was studied
- Obesity status
- not reported in abstract
- Diabetes status
- not reported in abstract
- Cvd status
- not reported in abstract
- Ckd status
- not reported in abstract
- Baseline condition
- Adults enrolled in a telemedicine obesity care program
- Sample size
- 4269
- Inclusion exclusion
- primary analysis: GLP-1-naive adults on a single medication ingredient (semaglutide or tirzepatide)
Study quality details
- Study design
- Retrospective cohort
- Sample size
- 4269
- Randomization
- no
- Blinding
- n/a
- Comparator
- IOM-based care without structured nutritional therapy (IOM only); both arms received incretin-based medication
- Follow up duration
- 12 months
- Outcome type
- intermediate
- Replication
- not assessed
- Consistency with other evidence
- not assessed
- Population applicability
- UNKNOWN
- Statistical precision
- P values reported; no CI reported; 4,269 adults
- Risk of bias
- not assessed
- Funding conflicts
- unclear
- Peer review status
- no
02Funding
Funding and conflicts
- Funding
- not reported in abstract
- Industry funded
- Unclear
- Manufacturer
- not stated in source
- Sponsor role
- not reported in abstract
- Author conflicts
- not reported in abstract
- Independent replication
- unknown
Funding is shown on every study and never used to score it.
04Source
The source, as retrieved
Abstract
BackgroundIncretin-based obesity medications (IOMs) produce substantial weight loss, but the incremental benefit of structured nutritional therapy when integrated with pharmacotherapy remains unclear. ObjectivesTo compare 12-month weight-loss outcomes between individualized carbohydrate-reduced nutritional therapy combined with IOMs (VINT+IOM) and IOM-based care without structured nutritional therapy (IOM only). MethodsThis retrospective cohort study evaluated 4,269 adults enrolled in a comprehensive telemedicine obesity care program (VINT+IOM, n=1,658; IOM only, n=2,611). Both pathways included clinician-guided medication management and behavioral coaching. The primary analysis focused on GLP-1-naive participants receiving a single medication ingredient (semaglutide or tirzepatide). Adjusted weight changes were estimated using longitudinal linear mixed-effects models. Additional analyses evaluated weight-loss responders, prior GLP-1 exposure, and medication utilization. ResultsAmong GLP-1-naive semaglutide users, adjusted 12-month weight loss was greater with VINT+IOM than IOM only (30.7 vs. 24.1 lb; P=0.01), with corresponding observed weight loss of 13.3% versus 11.1%. Among tirzepatide users, adjusted weight loss was 45.9 versus 34.4 lb (P=0.003), with observed reductions of 19.7% versus 15.6%, respectively. Weight-loss responder rates consistently favored VINT+IOM. In the overall cohort (GLP-1 naive, prior users and all other treatment trajectories), adjusted weight loss was 29.4 versus 21.5 lb (P<0.001), with observed reductions of 12.7% versus 9.6%. Greater weight loss with VINT+IOM was also observed among participants with prior GLP-1 exposure. Weight loss continued between 6 and 12 months in both pathways. Medication coverage was high, with approximately 80% of participants achieving proportion of days covered [≥]80% in both pathways. ConclusionsIntegrating individualized carbohydrate-reduced nutritional therapy with IOM-based care was associated with greater 12-month weight loss than IOM-based care without structured nutritional therapy. These real-world findings support further evaluation of individualized nutritional approaches as an adjunct to incretin-based obesity pharmacotherapy.
Where this record came from
| Source | Retrieved | Identifier |
|---|---|---|
| medrxiv:medrxiv | Oct 18, 2026 | 10.64898/2026.10.09.26365158 first ingestion |