Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jun 18, 2025
Date Accepted: Dec 2, 2025
PATH Trial Protocol: A randomized control trial examining Yoga as a strategy for improving remote-based weight loss in adults
ABSTRACT
Background:
Nearly 70% of US adults have overweight or obesity1. Internet-Delivered Weight Loss (IDWL) treatment overcomes many common barriers to in-person weight loss (WL) programs, yet IDWLs underperform compared to in-person treatment. Yoga is a novel obesity medicine intervention that targets physical and psychological health and can be delivered virtually, increasing translation potential. Yoga has been understudied as an intervention to address barriers to weight loss despite favorable effects in other health disciplines. Preliminary studies suggest yoga to improve self-regulation and reduce lapses from dietary recommendations, two factors integral to long-term weight loss success.
Objective:
To conduct the first fully powered randomized controlled trial to test the added effect of yoga to IDWL treatment on weight (primary outcome), dietary lapses, potential lapse triggers, and self-regulation mediator variables (secondary outcomes).
Methods:
Adults with overweight or obesity will be recruited to participate in a 12-month IDWL program. Following a 3-month assessment, eligible participants will be randomized to 1) a yoga intervention, including 14 weeks of group-based, virtually delivered Iyengar yoga delivered twice weekly, followed by 22 weeks of yoga delivered once per week, and then 6 months of no contact, or 2) a contact matched wellness comparison condition. Assessments will take place at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months. Several questionnaires, ecological momentary assessments, and objectively-measured weight and accelerometry data will be collected.
Results:
Enrollment for this randomized trial began in February 2024 and is ongoing with the expectation of closing enrollment in June 2026.
Conclusions:
This trial will examine the combined effect of yoga and WL treatment among individuals with overweight/obesity and will be the first fully powered trial to assess the combination of virtually delivered yoga and WL beyond 6 months. Findings will inform whether yoga could be considered a valuable intervention component for improving IDWL treatment. Clinical Trial: This trial is registered on clinicaltrials.gov (NCT06166225).
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.