Initially, positive results from the behaviour modification approach proved as short lived as other methods of weight control. Although these techniques have value in themselves as part of a wider complex of behavioural interventions, in practice of course, not all behaviours are so simple. In a review of the research on behavioural interventions for weight loss, Stuart asserts that: ‘. . . the maintenance of weight loss is a mandatory criterion in the evaluation of the behaviour therapy approach’. He concludes that the design of interventions must start with the following assumptions:

1. that obesity is a complex disorder, the culmination of physiological, psychological, social and situational factors;

2. that as a lifestyle disorder, it can only be remedied through a lifetime of effort;

3. that this kind of profound change requires the development of positive alternatives to problem behaviours;

4. that weight loss candidates must address four major stages of weight control: first the decision to commit oneself to action; second, the management of hunger and eating behaviour itself; third, the management of relapse and last, strategies for coping with long term maintenance.

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