>>Only 5 to 7% of people that lose a large amount weight are able to keep it off successfully in the medium and long term. Hope there is more research into this mechanism.

> Are there any studies in this area I can read that discuss the figures you've mentioned?

One example may be found in Dr. Jason Fung's book, "The Complete Guide to Fasting." Chapter 5 describes a case regarding the American TV show, "Biggest Loser", where overweight contestants lost loads of weight during the show with a low calorie diets and exercise. All except one contestant gain the weight back.

Below is the reference to the study cited in Fung's book. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.21538

I referenced some things in this comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18571376