Mindfulness‐based interventions for adults who are overweight or obese: a meta‐analysis of physical and psychological health outcomes

<jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of mindfulness‐based interventions on psychological and physical health outcomes in adults who are overweight or obese.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>We searched 14 electronic databases for randomized controlled trials and prospective cohort studies that met eligibility criteria. Comprehensive Meta‐analysis software was used to compute the effect size estimate Hedge's <jats:italic>g.</jats:italic></jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Fifteen studies measuring post‐treatment outcomes of mindfulness‐based interventions in 560 individuals were identified. The average weight loss was 4.2 kg. Overall effects were <jats:italic>large</jats:italic> for improving eating behaviours (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 1.08), <jats:italic>medium</jats:italic> for depression (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.64), anxiety (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.62) and eating attitudes (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.57) and s<jats:italic>mall</jats:italic> for body mass index (BMI; <jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.47) and metacognition (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.38) outcomes. Therapeutic effects for BMI (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.43), anxiety (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.53), eating attitudes (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.48) and eating behaviours (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.53) remained significant when examining results from higher quality randomized control trials alone. There was no efficacy advantage for studies exceeding the median dose of 12 h of face‐to‐face intervention. Studies utilizing an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy approach provided the only significant effect for improving BMI (g = 0.66), while mindfulness approaches produced great variation from <jats:italic>small</jats:italic> to <jats:italic>large</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.30–1.68) effects across a range of psychological health and eating‐related constructs. Finally, the limited longitudinal data suggested maintenance of BMI (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.85) and eating attitudes (<jats:italic>g</jats:italic> = 0.75) gains at follow‐up were only detectable in lower quality prospective cohort studies.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Mindfulness‐based interventions may be both physically and psychologically beneficial for adults who are overweight or obese, but further high‐quality research examining the mechanisms of action are encouraged.</jats:p></jats:sec>