Study of weight loss intervention to find an effective strategy for obesity management and the TARGET of weight loss amount for reducing health disorders (SLIM-TARGET): a randomized controlled trial
Abstract
This randomized controlled study aimed to clarify weight loss targets for improving obesity-related disorders in individuals with overweight or obesity. A total of 294 participants with six obesity-related conditions were assigned to either a standard or intensive treatment group, with 12-month weight loss targets of ≥3% and ≥7%, respectively. The standard group followed the Japanese Guidelines for the Management of Obesity Disease 2016. The intensive group received frequent nutritional guidance, enhanced diet and exercise therapy, and additional pharmacotherapy. The primary outcome was weight loss and improvement in at least two obesity-related disorders at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included remission of health disorders, improvement in at least one health disorder, and visceral fat reduction. At 12 months, the weight loss was –2.5% in the intensive group and –1.7% in the standard group, with no significant difference in the primary outcome. However, remission of health disorders was achieved in 16.9% of the intensive group compared with 6.2% of the standard group (adjusted odds ratio 3.079; 95% CI 1.075–8.823; p = 0.036). Visceral fat reduction was greater in the intensive group (–20.46 cm2 vs. –8.9 cm2; p = 0.039). Intensive treatment significantly improved blood pressure early and increased treatment motivation scores by 10.9% (95% CI: 1.2–20.6) at 24 months (p = 0.004). In both groups, ≥60% of the participants showed improvement in at least one disorder. Despite not achieving the target weight loss, resulting in no significant difference in the primary outcome, the intensive treatment increased remission percentages, improved early blood pressure control, and enhanced long-term treatment motivation. The study was registered at UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN ID: UMIN000031862).
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BibTeX
@article{koshizaka2026study,
title = {{Study of weight loss intervention to find an effective strategy for obesity management and the TARGET of weight loss amount for reducing health disorders (SLIM-TARGET): a randomized controlled trial}},
author = {Masaya Koshizaka and Hidetaka Yokoh and Ko Ishikawa and Aiko Hayashi and Yukari Maeda and Jin Kumagai and Kenji Takeda and Hiyori Kaneko and Tomohiro Ohno and Hiraku Ono and Yusuke Hirota and Takayoshi Sasako and Takashi Kato and Kengo Miyoshi and Toshimasa Yamauchi and Hirotaka Watanabe and Takaaki Sakaue and Mitsuyoshi Takahara and Iichiro Shimomura and Atsuhito Saiki and Ichiro Tatsuno and Kazuhisa Takahashi and Satoshi Kurose and Yutaka Kimura and Takeshi Onoue and Tomoko Handa and Hiroshi Arima and Jun Eguchi and Jun Wada and Aika Miya and Toru Kusakabe and Noriko Satoh-Asahara and Junichiro Irie and Nobuko Yamada-Goto and Masahiro Kondo and Kengo Nagashima and Yasunori Sato and Shigeru Miyazaki and Hiroko Yamamoto and Yoshie Kondo and Masako Waki and Hiroaki Ueno and Masamitsu Nakazato and Yoshiro Nakayama and Hiroaki Masuzaki and Takayuki Masaki and Masayuki Ohta and Masahiro Nishi and Makito Tanabe and Ryuya Iwamoto and Takafumi Senokuchi and Takuro Horikoshi and Kazuyo Tsushita and Takashi Kadowaki and Koutaro Yokote and SLIM-TARGET study group},
journal = {Endocrine Journal},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1507/endocrj.ej26-0217},
url = {https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj/advpub/0/advpub_EJ26-0217/_article},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Study of weight loss intervention to find an effective strategy for obesity management and the TARGET of weight loss amount for reducing health disorders (SLIM-TARGET): a randomized controlled trial
AU - Masaya Koshizaka
AU - Hidetaka Yokoh
AU - Ko Ishikawa
AU - Aiko Hayashi
AU - Yukari Maeda
AU - Jin Kumagai
AU - Kenji Takeda
AU - Hiyori Kaneko
AU - Tomohiro Ohno
AU - Hiraku Ono
AU - Yusuke Hirota
AU - Takayoshi Sasako
AU - Takashi Kato
AU - Kengo Miyoshi
AU - Toshimasa Yamauchi
AU - Hirotaka Watanabe
AU - Takaaki Sakaue
AU - Mitsuyoshi Takahara
AU - Iichiro Shimomura
AU - Atsuhito Saiki
AU - Ichiro Tatsuno
AU - Kazuhisa Takahashi
AU - Satoshi Kurose
AU - Yutaka Kimura
AU - Takeshi Onoue
AU - Tomoko Handa
AU - Hiroshi Arima
AU - Jun Eguchi
AU - Jun Wada
AU - Aika Miya
AU - Toru Kusakabe
AU - Noriko Satoh-Asahara
AU - Junichiro Irie
AU - Nobuko Yamada-Goto
AU - Masahiro Kondo
AU - Kengo Nagashima
AU - Yasunori Sato
AU - Shigeru Miyazaki
AU - Hiroko Yamamoto
AU - Yoshie Kondo
AU - Masako Waki
AU - Hiroaki Ueno
AU - Masamitsu Nakazato
AU - Yoshiro Nakayama
AU - Hiroaki Masuzaki
AU - Takayuki Masaki
AU - Masayuki Ohta
AU - Masahiro Nishi
AU - Makito Tanabe
AU - Ryuya Iwamoto
AU - Takafumi Senokuchi
AU - Takuro Horikoshi
AU - Kazuyo Tsushita
AU - Takashi Kadowaki
AU - Koutaro Yokote
AU - SLIM-TARGET study group
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
JO - Endocrine Journal
DO - 10.1507/endocrj.ej26-0217
UR - https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj/advpub/0/advpub_EJ26-0217/_article
AB - This randomized controlled study aimed to clarify weight loss targets for improving obesity-related disorders in individuals with overweight or obesity. A total of 294 participants with six obesity-related conditions were assigned to either a standard or intensive treatment group, with 12-month weight loss targets of ≥3% and ≥7%, respectively. The standard group followed the Japanese Guidelines for the Management of Obesity Disease 2016. The intensive group received frequent nutritional guidance, enhanced diet and exercise therapy, and additional pharmacotherapy. The primary outcome was weight loss and improvement in at least two obesity-related disorders at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included remission of health disorders, improvement in at least one health disorder, and visceral fat reduction. At 12 months, the weight loss was –2.5% in the intensive group and –1.7% in the standard group, with no significant difference in the primary outcome. However, remission of health disorders was achieved in 16.9% of the intensive group compared with 6.2% of the standard group (adjusted odds ratio 3.079; 95% CI 1.075–8.823; p = 0.036). Visceral fat reduction was greater in the intensive group (–20.46 cm2 vs. –8.9 cm2; p = 0.039). Intensive treatment significantly improved blood pressure early and increased treatment motivation scores by 10.9% (95% CI: 1.2–20.6) at 24 months (p = 0.004). In both groups, ≥60% of the participants showed improvement in at least one disorder. Despite not achieving the target weight loss, resulting in no significant difference in the primary outcome, the intensive treatment increased remission percentages, improved early blood pressure control, and enhanced long-term treatment motivation. The study was registered at UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN ID: UMIN000031862).
SN - 1348-4540
SN - 0918-8959
ER -