{"doi":"10.1093/geront/gnab048","title":"Weight Loss through Lifestyle Intervention Improves Mobility in Older Adults","abstract":"BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The high prevalence of overweight or obesity in older adults is a public health concern because obesity affects health, including the risk of mobility disability. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The Mobility and Vitality Lifestyle Program, delivered by community health workers (CHWs), enrolled 303 community-dwelling adults to assess the impact of a 32-session behavioral weight management intervention. Participants completed the program at 26 sites led by 22 CHWs. Participation was limited to people aged 60-75 who had a body mass index (BMI) of 27-45 kg/m2. The primary outcome was the performance on the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) over 12 months. RESULTS: Participants were aged 67.7 (SD 4.1) and mostly female (87%); 22.7% were racial minorities. The mean (SD) BMI at baseline was 34.7 (4.7). Participants attended a median of 24 of 32 sessions; 240 (80.3%) completed the 9- or 13-month outcome assessment. Median weight loss in the sample was 5% of baseline body weight. SPPB total scores improved by +0.31 units (p < .006), gait speed by +0.04 m/s (p < .0001), and time to complete chair stands by -0.95 s (p < .0001). Weight loss of at least 5% was associated with a gain of +0.73 in SPPB scores. Increases in activity (by self-report or device) were not independently associated with SPPB outcomes but did reduce the effect of weight loss. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Promoting weight management in a community group setting may be an effective strategy for reducing the risk of disability in older adults.","journal":"The Gerontologist","year":2021,"id":191776,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":12,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9579,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":307257,"name":"Elizabeth M. Venditti","orcid":"0000-0002-4124-6555","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":341575,"name":"Robert M. Boudreau","orcid":"0000-0003-0162-5187","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":758131,"name":"Lori A Kieffer","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":758132,"name":"Judith R. Rager","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":420111,"name":"Janice C. Zgibor","orcid":"0000-0001-6861-332X","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":758133,"name":"Joni Vander Bilt","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":758134,"name":"Michelle E. Danielson","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":499002,"name":"Lora E. Burke","orcid":"0000-0003-2434-9867","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":130042,"name":"Nancy W. Glynn","orcid":"0000-0003-2265-0162","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":235351,"name":"John M. Jakicic","orcid":"0000-0001-6800-9368","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":451425,"name":"Kenneth J. Smith","orcid":"0000-0001-8088-566X","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":758135,"name":"Linda Semler","orcid":null,"position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":57360,"name":"Anne B. Newman","orcid":"0000-0002-0106-1150","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":415720,"name":"Steven M. Albert","orcid":"0000-0001-6786-9956","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":44,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:49:35.285023Z","pmid":"33822933","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}