Obese patients who lose as little as 1kg of weight show improvements in serum lipid levels, new research suggests.

Modest weight loss, whether obtained through lifestyle change, drugs or bariatric surgery, was found to be of benefit, according to a review that included 73 randomised controlled trials and more than 32,000 patients.

“I encourage my fellow practising physicians to share such benefits of the slightest weight reduction with their patients when counselling and formulating weight-loss plans,” said Dr Tamim Rajjo, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, US.

“This becomes especially important when concurrently targeting other comorbidities like hyperlipidemia, which we show here could improve with really just the first couple of pounds off.”