Patients who take weight loss drugs lose more weight than those who change their behaviour, but they are far more likely to regain their weight in the following 1.7 years after stopping the drugs.

This is according to a new meta-analysis, the latest in a growing area of literature suggesting weight management medications (WMMs) only work as short-term solutions for many patients in the absence of a more comprehensive approach to weight management.

Those who went on behavioural weight management programs (BWMPs) sustained their weight loss for longer, bolstering calls for the drugs to be coupled with lifestyle interventions.

According to the paper, which analysed 37 studies with 9341 participants, patients lost 8.3kg while taking medication over a mean period of 39 weeks, higher than the 3.2kg lost by control groups, most of whom were given placebos.