Lay summary
Nearly 30% of New Zealand adults are obese with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. There is a serious need to develop new non-surgical ways of treating obesity because obesity related diseases are expensive for New Zealand, traditional non-surgical methods are not working, and surgery is very costly. The focus of this study is a ‘food addiction’ approach to obesity involving a recovery network called Kia Akina, piloting of which has shown promising results. This research will test the effectiveness of Kia Akina in obese people recruited from primary care by comparing their 12-month weight-loss outcomes with a group randomised to receive an exercise referral, called a Green Prescription, alone. If shown to be effective, Kia Akina will be developed in manageable stages as a non-commercial, low cost network for obesity recovery throughout New Zealand, strongly connected with primary care services and linked with ongoing research.