Introduction: Bariatric surgery has positive results in weight loss and control of associated
comorbidities. However, psychological aspects such as family support and altered food intake can compromise surgical success. Objective: To test the association between perception of family support, eating behavior and body weight in women with more than 24 months of bariatric surgery. Method: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, carried out with 50 adult women undergoing bariatric surgery. Anthropometric data were collected, considering the occurrence of weight relapse when it reached ≥15% of the lowest weight after surgery and considering the success in losing excess weight when the loss was greater than or equal to 50%. A questionnaire to assess eating behavior (Three Factor Eating Questionnaire - TFEQ-21) and a questionnaire to assess perception and satisfaction with family support in the pre - and postoperative period were requested. Results: Satisfactory weight loss was observed after surgery (%WL = 75.6±28.8%). However, most study participants (n=23; 46.0%) also had significant weight regain (16.1 ± 14.5%). The perception of family support before and after surgery was good. Before surgery, most patients reported that their family was very supportive (n=38; 76%; p<0.000) and were very satisfied with family support (n=38;76%; p<0.000). In the postoperative period, it was found that most participants have the perception that the family is “totally supportive” (n=36; 72%; p<0.000) and that they are “totally satisfied” (n=33; 66%; p<0.000). The predominant eating behavior in the sample was the domain of “emotional eating” (p<0.005). An inverse correlation was observed between family support before (r2=0.316; p=0.025) and after surgery (r2= 0.303; p=0.033) with weight recurrence, in addition to a significant correlation between excess weight loss and the perception of family support after surgery (p= 0.030), thus suggesting that a better perception of family support would be related to better weight loss and less weight regain after surgery. However, there was no association between family support and any of the investigated eating behavior domains. Conclusion: It is important to consider the family support network during treatment before and after bariatric surgery, in addition to maintaining long-term multidisciplinary follow-up in order to ensure the maintenance of the beneficial results achieved after surgery.
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