AUTHOR=Bouzas Cristina , Bibiloni Maria del Mar , Garcia Silvia , Mateos David , Martínez-González Miguel Ángel , Salas-Salvadó Jordi , Corella Dolores , Goday Albert , Martínez J. Alfredo , Alonso-Gómez Ángel M. , Wärnberg Julia , Vioque Jesús , Romaguera Dora , Lopez-Miranda José , Estruch Ramon , Tinahones Francisco J. , Lapetra José , Serra-Majem Lluís , Riquelme-Gallego Blanca , Martín-Sánchez Vicente , Pintó Xavier , Gaforio José J. , Matía Pilar , Vidal Josep , Vázquez Clotilde , Daimiel Lidia , Ros Emilio , Pascual-Roquet-Jalmar Elena , Babio Nancy , Gonzalez-Monge Inmaculada , Castañer Olga , Abete Itziar , Sorto-Sánchez Carolina , Carlos Benavente-Marín Juan , Torres-Collado Laura , Martin Marian , García-Ríos Antonio , Castro-Barquero Sara , Fernández-García Jose C. , Santos-Lozano José Manuel , Fernandez-Lazaro Cesar I. , Salas-Huetos Albert , Guillem-Saiz Patricia , Zomeño María Dolores , Ángeles Zulet Maria , Goikoetxea-Bahon Amaia , Gea Alfredo , Nishi Stephanie K. , Schröder Helmut , Tur Josep A. , The PREDIMED-Plus investigators TITLE=Desired weight loss and its association with health, health behaviors and perceptions in an adult population with weight excess: One-year follow-up JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.848055 DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.848055 ISSN=2296-861X ABSTRACT=Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) deteriorates quality of life and increases mortality. Weight dissatisfaction in patients with MetS might modify the effect of lifestyle interventions on successful changes in health-related behaviors. Objective: To assess 1-year changes in cardiovascular risk scores, self-perceived general health, and health-related behaviors according to observed changes in desired weight loss over the first year of intervention in a large cardiovascular prevention trial. Design: Prospective analysis of the PREDIMED-PLUS trial including 5499 adults (55-75 years old) with overweight or obesity at baseline. Methods: Desired weight loss was the difference between ideal and measured weight. Roughly tertiles of change in desired weight loss (1-year vs. baseline) were defined by the following cut-off points: ≥0.0 Kg (T1, n=1638); 0.0 to -4.0 Kg (T2, n=1903); ≤-4.0Kg (T3, n=1958). A food frequency questionnaire assessed diet and the Minnesota-REGICOR questionnaire assessed physical activity. The Framingham equation assessed cardiovascular risks. Changes in the severity of the MetS were also evaluated. The Beck Depression Inventory assessed depressive symptoms and the SF-36 appraised health-related quality of life. Data were analyzed using General Linear Models. Results: BMI decreased in T2 and T3 (T1: 0.3; T2: -0.7. T3: -1.9). The highest improvement in diet quality were observed in T3. Cardiovascular risk decreased in T2 and T3. Mean reductions on MetS severity score were: -0.02 for T1, -0.39 for T2, and -0.78 for T3. Physical health perception’s increases across successive tertiles. Conclusions: In aged adults with MetS, more ambitious goals for desired weight loss were associated with improvements on diet, cardiovascular health, and physical health perception, during the first year of a healthy-lifestyle intervention program. Weight dissatisfaction should be considered by health care professionals.