Treatments and supplements · Behavioral weight-loss programs

Do structured behavior-change programs help you keep weight off?

What we can tell you today: how thoroughly this has been studied.

Thoroughly studied

34 studies, of which 8 bring together the results of several trials in people. This is as strong as evidence gets.

5 Repeated evidence 8 studies

4 Large controlled trial 23 studies

3 Small study in people 3 studies

This says how thoroughly something has been studied — not whether it works for you. What each study actually found is in the study itself, and in the plain-language write-ups we are adding.

Appears under: Sleep, energy and the brain · Weight loss and GLP-1

The studies

5 Repeated evidence Components and Delivery Formats of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Insomnia in Adults: A Systematic Review and Component Network Meta-Analysis.
2024 · JAMA psychiatry · 452 participants · manufacturer helped fund this
5 Repeated evidence Long-Term Effect of Weight Regain Following Behavioral Weight Management Programs on Cardiometabolic Disease Incidence and Risk: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
2023 · Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes · 4,202 participants
5 Repeated evidence Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Comorbid With Psychiatric and Medical Conditions: A Meta-analysis.
2015 · JAMA internal medicine
5 Repeated evidence Challenging beliefs for quality sleep: A systematic review of maladaptive sleep beliefs and treatment outcomes following cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.
2023 · Sleep medicine reviews
5 Repeated evidence Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Mood and Insomnia in Persons With Dementia: A Systematic Review.
2021 · Alzheimer disease and associated disorders
4 Large controlled trial Liraglutide 3.0 mg and Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) for Obesity in Primary Care: The SCALE IBT Randomized Controlled Trial.
2020 · Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 142 participants · manufacturer helped fund this
4 Large controlled trial Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia has sustained effects on insomnia, fatigue, and function among people with chronic heart failure and insomnia: the HeartSleep Study.
2022 · Sleep · 175 participants
5 Repeated evidence A Systematic Review of Methods to Predict Weight Trajectories in Health Economic Models of Behavioral Weight-Management Programs: The Potential Role of Psychosocial Factors.
2020 · Medical decision making : an international journal of t
4 Large controlled trial Depression prevention via digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a randomized controlled trial.
2020 · Sleep · 358 participants
5 Repeated evidence Weight regain and mental health outcomes following behavioural weight management programmes: A systematic review with meta-analyses.
2023 · Clinical obesity · 47 participants
5 Repeated evidence Effect of Cognitive Behavior Therapy on the Mental Health of Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review.
2026 · Gastroenterology nursing : the official journal of the
4 Large controlled trial Cognitive behavioral therapy, singly and combined with medication, for persistent insomnia: a randomized controlled trial.
2009 · JAMA · 160 participants
4 Large controlled trial Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia prevents and alleviates suicidal ideation: insomnia remission is a suicidolytic mechanism.
2022 · Sleep · 658 participants
4 Large controlled trial Effects of 4:3 Intermittent Fasting on Eating Behaviors and Appetite Hormones: A Secondary Analysis of a 12-Month Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention.
2025 · Nutrients · 165 participants
4 Large controlled trial Cognitive-behavioral treatment for comorbid insomnia and osteoarthritis pain in primary care: the lifestyles randomized controlled trial.
2013 · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2,011 participants
4 Large controlled trial Early Weight Loss in Behavioral Treatment Predicts Later Rate of Weight Loss and Response to Pharmacotherapy.
2020 · Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the So · 170 participants
4 Large controlled trial Impact of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia disorder on sleep and comorbid symptoms in military personnel: a randomized clinical trial.
2019 · Sleep · 151 participants
4 Large controlled trial Effectiveness of one-week internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia to prevent progression from acute to chronic insomnia: A two-arm, multi-center, randomized controlled trial.
2023 · Psychiatry research · 192 participants
4 Large controlled trial Sleep-specific outcomes attributable to digitally delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in adults with insomnia and depressive symptoms.
2024 · Behavioral sleep medicine · 1,149 participants · manufacturer helped fund this
4 Large controlled trial The WORD: Outcomes of a Behavioral Weight Loss Maintenance Effectiveness Trial in Rural Black Adults of Faith.
2020 · Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 440 participants
4 Large controlled trial Association Between Changes in Body Composition and Physical Function After Intensive Behavioral Weight-loss Intervention: A Look AHEAD Trial Subgroup Analysis.
2025 · The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological scien · 603 participants
4 Large controlled trial Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Biofeedback for Chronic Headache: Effects on Pain Catastrophizing, Sleep Quality, and Disability.
2026 · Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 100 participants
4 Large controlled trial A randomized controlled trial comparing sleep hygiene advice with a self-help book focusing on cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a study among patients with prescribed hypnotics from the GP.
2026 · Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 125 participants
4 Large controlled trial Intraindividual variability in sleep schedule: effects of an internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia program and its relation with symptom remission.
2021 · Sleep · 303 participants
4 Large controlled trial Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia treatment attrition in patients with weekly nightmares.
2023 · Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official pu · 110 participants
4 Large controlled trial Group cognitive behavioural treatment for insomnia in primary care: a randomized controlled trial.
2016 · Psychological medicine · 239 participants
4 Large controlled trial Long-Term Maintenance of Therapeutic Gains Associated With Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Delivered Alone or Combined With Zolpidem.
2017 · Sleep · 160 participants
4 Large controlled trial Symphony of healing: Investigating the effects of integrating music therapy with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT) on depression.
2025 · Psychiatry research · 230 participants
4 Large controlled trial Racial disparities in the efficacy of traditional versus acceptance-based behavioral weight loss.
2026 · Health psychology : official journal of the Division of · 737 participants
4 Large controlled trial The impact of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia on cognitive performance and amyloid beta in older adults: A randomized controlled trial.
2026 · Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's · 100 participants
4 Large controlled trial Sleep locus of control and computerized cognitive-behavioral therapy (cCBT).
2010 · Behaviour research and therapy · 100 participants
3 Small study in people Treating insomnia improves depression, maladaptive thinking, and hyperarousal in postmenopausal women: comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI), sleep restriction therapy, and sleep hygiene education.
2020 · Sleep medicine
3 Small study in people Cognitive behavioral therapy vs. Tai Chi for late life insomnia and inflammatory risk: a randomized controlled comparative efficacy trial.
2015 · Sleep
3 Small study in people Preventing postpartum insomnia: findings from a three-arm randomized-controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, a responsive bassinet, and sleep hygiene.
2024 · Sleep