Effect of Combined Manual Acupuncture and Massage on Body Weight and Body Mass Index Reduction in Obese and Overweight Women: A Randomized, Short-term Clinical Trial

Obesity is one of the leading health risk factors worldwide and is associated with several other risk factors and health problems. Acupuncture is utilized to treat a variety of health problems, one of which is obesity. Fifty-six obese women with body mass index (BMI) ?25 kg/m2 were recruited for this trial and were randomly divided into two groups, one with combined manual acupuncture and massage therapy (MAMT), and the other with only manual acupuncture therapy (MAT). In addition, 40 overweight women with BMI 23?25 kg/m2 were randomly divided into two groups, one with MAMT and the other with MAT. Therapy was carried out once per day for 21 days, and the body weights and the BMIs were recorded every day. The results showed that both MAMT and MAT could reduce body weight and BMI significantly, compared with the pretreatment values, for all the participants (p < 0.001); however, the differences in body weight and BMI reductions between pre- and posttreatment for the MAMT and the MAT groups were not statistically significant. The optimal periods for reductions in both body weight and in BMI were the first 4 days. Accounting for the economic strategy (time and money) in alternative therapy, MAT alone may present a reasonable option in the treatment of overweight and obesity in adults.