Chronic non-communicable diseases represent the major drivers of disease burden, being responsible for the majority of health care cost and deaths. Almost half of premature deaths is due to behaviors amenable to change. Accordingly, addressing behavior might represent a strategic change in the health delivery system. Improving lifestyle requires a specific strategy embedding the active collaboration of individuals with a multilevel team-oriented medical practice. With the present study we sought to assess whether the implementation of cognitive-behavioral strategies, following the principles of lifestyle medicine in an outpatient clinic provides better results in weight reduction as compared to simpler strategies as presently executed in General Practitioners' offices.
