{"doi":"10.3390/nu16183125","title":"Efficacy, Safety and Acceptability of a Very-Low-Energy Diet in Adolescents with Obesity: A Fast Track to Health Sub-Study","abstract":"The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy, safety and acceptability of a 4-week very-low-energy diet (VLED) program for adolescents with obesity. Adolescents (13–17 years) with obesity and ≥1 obesity-related complication were Fast Track to Health 52-week randomized controlled trial participants. Adolescents undertook a 4-week micronutrient-complete VLED (800 kcal/day), with weekly dietitian support. Anthropometric data were recorded at baseline and week-4 and side-effects at day 3–4, week-1, -2, -3 and -4. Adolescents completed an acceptability survey at week-4. A total of 134 adolescents (14.9 ± 1.2 years, 50% male) had a 5.5 ± 2.9 kg (p < 0.001) mean weight loss at week-4: 95% experienced ≥1 and 70% experienced ≥3 side-effects during the VLED program, especially during the first week. Hunger, fatigue, headache, irritability, loose stools, constipation and nausea were most common. Reporting more side-effects at day 3–4 correlated with greater weight loss at week-4 (r = −0.188, p = 0.03). Adolescents reported ‘losing weight’ (34%) and ‘prescriptive structure’ (28%) as the most positive aspects of VLED, while ‘restrictive nature’ (45%) and ‘meal replacement taste’ (20%) were least liked. A dietitian-monitored short-term VLED can be implemented safely and is acceptable for many adolescents seeking weight loss, despite frequent side-effects. Investigating predictors of acceptability and effectiveness could determine adolescents most suited to VLED programs.","journal":"Nutrients","year":2024,"id":443318,"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":8,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9473,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2024-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1118938,"name":"Hiba Jebeile","orcid":"0000-0002-8623-6174","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1257445,"name":"Eve T. House","orcid":"0000-0002-6953-4786","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1257446,"name":"Shirley Alexander","orcid":"0000-0001-9396-8624","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":38495,"name":"Louise A. Baur","orcid":"0000-0002-4521-9482","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1051121,"name":"Justin Brown","orcid":"0000-0002-2915-0673","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":471911,"name":"Clare E. Collins","orcid":"0000-0003-3298-756X","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":38584,"name":"Chris Cowell","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1257447,"name":"Kaitlin Day","orcid":"0000-0003-3846-8568","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":38674,"name":"Sarah P. Garnett","orcid":"0000-0001-7552-0789","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1118948,"name":"Alicia Grunseit","orcid":"0000-0003-0783-4596","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1257917,"name":"Mary-Kate Inkster","orcid":null,"position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1257448,"name":"Cathy Kwok","orcid":"0000-0003-0387-1058","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1257449,"name":"Sarah Lang","orcid":"0000-0003-3653-1981","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1118941,"name":"Susan J. Paxton","orcid":"0000-0002-8486-1996","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1082579,"name":"Helen Truby","orcid":"0000-0002-1992-1649","position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":225438,"name":"Krista A Varady","orcid":"0000-0002-9279-9934","position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1118939,"name":"Natalie B. Lister","orcid":"0000-0002-9148-8632","position":17,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1257444,"name":"Megan L. Gow","orcid":"0000-0002-9574-6248","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":50,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:01:24.471942Z","pmid":"39339725","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":[]}