NCT07434557

Disordered Eating and Recurrent Weight Gain After MBS

Active, enrolled Last updated 25 February 2026

What this trial tests

trial testing Observational assessment in Obesity & Overweight in 49 participants. Participants enrolled and being followed up; not accepting new ones.

Timeline

2 January 2025

Primary endpoint
10 September 2025

5 March 2026

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Medipol University
Status	Active, enrolled
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	49
Start date	2 January 2025
Primary completion	10 September 2025
Estimated completion	5 March 2026
Sites	1 location across Turkey (Türkiye)

Drugs / interventions tested

• Observational assessment

Conditions studied

• Obesity & Overweight — all drugs for Obesity & Overweight →
• Bariatric Surgery — all drugs for Bariatric Surgery →
• Weight Regain Post Bariatric Surgery — all drugs for Weight Regain Post Bariatric Surgery →
• Eating Disorders — all drugs for Eating Disorders →

Sponsor

Medipol University

Who can join

Adults 18 to 65, any sex, with Obesity & Overweight or Bariatric Surgery. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Obesity represents an increasingly serious public health problem worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, one in eight individuals globally is affected by obesity. Bariatric surgery (BS) is recognized as the most effective treatment for severe obesity and has been shown to significantly improve obesity-related comorbidities. However, despite initially successful surgical outcomes, a substantial proportion of patients experience insufficient weight loss (IWL) or weight regain (WR) after surgery.

Previous studies have identified multiple factors associated with post-bariatric IWL and WR, including older age, low socioeconomic status, higher baseline body mass index (particularly preoperative BMI \>50 kg/m²), type of surgical procedure, hormonal mechanisms, poor adherence to postoperative dietary recommendations, maladaptive eating behaviors, insufficient physical activity, and the presence of psychiatric comorbidities. Among these, behavioral factors appear to play a particularly critical role. Irregular eating patterns such as loss of control eating, maladaptive behaviors such as grazing, non-adherence to dietary guidelines, and a return to preoperative eating habits are frequently associated with weight regain. Additionally, physiological mechanisms, including increased appetite, food cravings, and altered hormonal regulation of energy intake, may further contribute to this process.

Grazing behavior-defined as repetitive consumption of small amounts of food accompanied by a sense of loss of control-has been consistently associated with poorer weight outcomes after bariatric surgery. A large meta-analysis reported grazing prevalence rates between 16.6% and 46.6%, with weight regain observed in nearly half of post-bariatric patients. Moreover, lack of structured nutritional follow-up has been shown to significantly increase the risk of weight regain. Neurobehavioral changes also occur after surgery: while appetite and responsiveness to palatable foods typically decrease during the first postoperative year, these effects often diminish over time, with hunger, cravings, and portion sizes gradually increasing in some individuals.

Long-term weight regain has been closely linked to disordered eating behaviors, including emotional eating, binge eating, compulsive eating, food addiction, and loss of control eating. Recent studies have demonstrated significant associations between weight regain and binge eating disorder, eating disinhibition, and impulsivity. Qualitative research further highlights that many patients struggle to manage emotional eating and require ongoing psychological and dietary support following surgery.

Despite growing evidence emphasizing the behavioral and psychological components of post-bariatric outcomes, comprehensive studies that simultaneously evaluate nutritional status, eating disorders, and emotional factors in individuals experiencing IWL or WR remain limited. Therefore, the present study aims to assess nutritional status, eating disorder symptoms, and emotional factors in individuals who experience insufficient weight loss or weight regain after bariatric surgery. By integrating anthropometric, nutritional, behavioral, and emotional assessments within the same sample, this study seeks to provide a multidimensional perspective and contribute to the development of more effective multidisciplinary follow-up and psychodietetic interventions.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.