Bariatric surgery patients tend to maintain healthier lifestyle habits compared with peers who were eligible but had not received this treatment, according to a new report.
Data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) has revealed that seven years after bariatric surgery, patients reported more moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) than those who were eligible for the procedure but did not have it.
They reported 147.9 minutes of MVPA a week compared to the 97.4 minutes of MVPA a week reported by those who had not had the operation.
In addition, bariatric surgery patients also reported only intaking 1,746 calories a day whereas those who had not had the surgery reported intaking 2,040 calories.
However, the surgery patients did not perform significantly better in meeting physical activity requirements or eating healthily, according to propensity-matched analyses by Young-Rock Hong, PhD, MPH, of the University of Florida in Gainesville, and colleagues, which was published in JAMA Network Open.
There was still room for improvement in postbariatric lifestyle, the study authors concluded.
