Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

New Unimore Study Identifies 8,500 Daily Steps as Key to Preventing Weight Regain

Walking approximately 8,500 steps a day represents a simple, accessible and effective strategy for preventing weight regain following a diet. This is the finding of a new study by Unimore presented at the European Congress on Obesity 2026 and published in the scientific journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health .

The study was coordinated by Professor Marwan El Ghoch from the Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

“One of the greatest challenges in obesity treatment,” explains Professor El Ghoch, “is preventing weight regain. Identifying effective strategies to maintain achieved results is of enormous clinical value.”

The research, involving the Universities of Modena and Reggio Emilia and Beirut (Lebanon), was based on a systematic review and meta-analysis of 18 randomised clinical trials, 14 of which were included in the quantitative analysis. The study involved a total of 3,758 overweight or obese individuals (average age 53 years, average BMI 31 kg/m²) from several countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Japan.

Participants were divided into two groups: one took part in lifestyle modification programmes (diet, increased daily steps and behavioural counselling — an intervention aimed at changing unhealthy behaviours, such as overeating and physical inactivity, by encouraging healthier long-term habits), while the control group followed only a diet or received no specific intervention.

The results showed that:

• at the beginning of the study, both groups had similar activity levels (around 7,200 steps per day);
• the group following structured programmes increased their daily steps to approximately 8,454 during the weight-loss phase;
• this increase was maintained during the follow-up phase (8,241 steps per day);
• participants lost an average of 4.39% of their initial body weight (around 4 kg) and, crucially, maintained most of the loss over time (average maintained loss of 3.28%, around 3 kg);
• by contrast, the control group showed neither an increase in steps nor significant weight loss.

“The analysis highlights,” Professor El Ghoch continues, “ a clear link between increased daily steps and a reduced risk of weight regain . However, no direct association emerged between the number of steps and greater weight loss during the initial phase, probably because calorie reduction plays the primary role at that stage.”

“The message is clear,” Professor El Ghoch concludes. “Increasing and maintaining a level of activity of around 8,500 steps a day can make a meaningful difference over the long term, representing a practical, sustainable and cost-effective strategy to counter the ‘yo-yo effect’, which affects up to 80% of people after dieting.”

Profile: Marwan El Ghoch

Marwan El Ghoch is Associate Professor of Food Science and Applied Dietetic Techniques at the Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences at Unimore and was recently elected President of the Degree Programme in Dietetics. He is also co-director of the Centre for the Study of Body Composition, Metabolism and Lifestyle (MBL Center – UNIMORE), where he coordinates a research group. He has authored more than 150 articles published in international peer-reviewed journals in the field of clinical nutrition, with a particular focus on obesity, especially the revision of currently used diagnostic criteria and the effectiveness of lifestyle modification programmes for weight management. Professor El Ghoch is also a member of the Working Groups of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) and the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE), contributing to the development of European guidelines for obesity management.

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