Healthy Weight Program
The Healthy Weight manual outlines an obesity prevention intervention that has been developed and used at Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Oregon Research Institute. The intervention is the outgrowth of a 16-year program of research on the risk factors for eating disorders by this research team. The intervention, called Healthy Weight, draws upon behavioral weight control programs that have been found to result in effective weight control (Brownell, 1997). This program provides information about the impact of caloric intake and physical activity on body weight and encourages participants to make lasting lifestyle changes involving reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity in an interactive manner. Participants develop individualized lifestyle modification plans and the majority of sessions are devoted to implementing these changes and overcoming barriers to change. Several trials have found that this intervention significantly reduces unhealthy weight gain and eating disorder symptoms relative to both assessment-only control conditions and alternative interventions, with some effects that persist through 3-year follow-up (Stice, Chase, Stormer, & Appel, 2001; Stice, Trost, & Chase, 2003; Stice, Shaw, Burton, & Wade, 2006; Stice, Marti, Spoor, Presnell, & Shaw, 2008). Perhaps most encouraging, participants who completed the Healthy Weight intervention showed a 50% reduction in obesity onset and a 60% reduction in eating disorder onset over the subsequent 3-year follow-up relative to assessment-only controls (Stice et al., 2008). To our knowledge, the Healthy Weight intervention is the first program to reduce initial body weight and eating disorder symptoms and reduce risk for future onset of obesity and eating disorders.
This intervention is described as a body acceptance program to facilitate recruitment and avoid stigmatization. Young women with body dissatisfaction are at increased risk for future escalation in both eating disorder symptoms and unhealthy weight gain (Berg & Neumark-Sztainer, 2007; Haines et al., 2007; Johnson & Wardle, 2005; Stice, 2001). In addition, body dissatisfaction may motivate individuals to make healthy changes to their dietary intake and activity level. A unique feature of this program is that the healthy lifestyle change plan is participant-driven, with the goal of promoting internalization of the health goals and the development of executive control over lifestyle choices.
The Healthy Weight 6-session intervention is currently under evaluation in a randomized control trial at Oregon Research Institute and University of Texas Austin.
This intervention is described as a body acceptance program to facilitate recruitment and avoid stigmatization. Young women with body dissatisfaction are at increased risk for future escalation in both eating disorder symptoms and unhealthy weight gain (Berg & Neumark-Sztainer, 2007; Haines et al., 2007; Johnson & Wardle, 2005; Stice, 2001). In addition, body dissatisfaction may motivate individuals to make healthy changes to their dietary intake and activity level. A unique feature of this program is that the healthy lifestyle change plan is participant-driven, with the goal of promoting internalization of the health goals and the development of executive control over lifestyle choices.
The Healthy Weight 6-session intervention is currently under evaluation in a randomized control trial at Oregon Research Institute and University of Texas Austin.
4-session
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Translation by Riccardo Dalle Grave
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Oregon Research Institute Obesity Prevention Project