The present study was designed to determine the most effective way to provide treatment for the mild to moderately overweight, the population for whom short-term behavioral programs seem most appropriate. A standard behavioral intervention (weekly meetings and exercise contracting) was compared to a more intensive intervention (weekly meetings and supervised exercise sessions three times a week) and a minimal-contact (written lessons with feedback) condition. Forty-two young women averaging 22% overweight completed a twelve-week treatment program. At posttest, both conditions involving weekly meetings had lost significantly more weight than the minimal contact condition. However, by the one-year follow-up, subjects in the Supervised Exercise condition maintained a significantly larger weight loss than subjects in either of the other two conditions. Thus, for this moderately overweight sample, the initial increased attention to exercise provided in the supervised exercise condition was essential for adequate maintenance. The supervised exercise condition was also the only condition to demonstrate significant changes in fitness during the treatment period, and these change were maintained at the follow-up. The findings suggest that compliance with exercise prescriptions may play a particularly important role in the effective treatment of the mild to moderately obese who may have a greater need to change their exercice than their eating habits.

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