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Dissonance and healthy weight eating disorder prevention programs: A randomized efficacy trial
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
, 2006
"... Adolescent girls with body dissatisfaction (N 481, SD 1.4) were randomized to a dissonance-based thin-ideal internalization reduction program, healthy weight control program, expressive writing control condition, or assessment-only control condition. Dissonance participants showed significantly gr ..."
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Adolescent girls with body dissatisfaction (N 481, SD 1.4) were randomized to a dissonance-based thin-ideal internalization reduction program, healthy weight control program, expressive writing control condition, or assessment-only control condition. Dissonance participants showed significantly greater decreases in thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, negative affect, eating disorder symptoms, and psychosocial impairment and lower risk for eating pathology onset through 2- to 3-year follow-up than did assessment-only controls. Dissonance participants showed greater decreases in thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, and psychosocial impairment than did expressive writing controls. Healthy weight participants showed greater decreases in thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, negative affect, eating disorder symptoms, and psychosocial impairment; less increases in weight; and lower risk for eating pathology and obesity onset through 2- to 3-year follow-up than did assessment-only controls. Healthy weight participants showed greater decreases in thin-ideal internalization and weight than did expressive writing controls. Dissonance participants showed a 60 % reduction in risk for eating pathology onset, and healthy weight participants showed a 61 % reduction in risk for eating pathology onset and a 55 % reduction in risk for obesity onset relative to assessment-only controls through 3-year follow-up, implying that the effects are clinically important and enduring.
Relation of reward from food intake and anticipated food intake to obesity: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study,
- J. Abnorm. Psychol.
, 2008
"... The authors tested the hypothesis that obese individuals experience greater reward from food consumption (consummatory food reward) and anticipated consumption (anticipatory food reward) than lean individuals using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with 33 adolescent girls (mean age ϭ 15 ..."
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The authors tested the hypothesis that obese individuals experience greater reward from food consumption (consummatory food reward) and anticipated consumption (anticipatory food reward) than lean individuals using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with 33 adolescent girls (mean age ϭ 15.7, SD ϭ 0.9). Obese relative to lean adolescent girls showed greater activation bilaterally in the gustatory cortex (anterior and mid insula, frontal operculum) and in somatosensory regions (parietal operculum and Rolandic operculum) in response to anticipated intake of chocolate milkshake (vs. a tasteless solution) and to actual consumption of milkshake (vs. a tasteless solution); these brain regions encode the sensory and hedonic aspects of food. However, obese relative to lean adolescent girls also showed decreased activation in the caudate nucleus in response to consumption of milkshake versus a tasteless solution, potentially because they have reduced dopamine receptor availability. Results suggest that individuals who show greater activation in the gustatory cortex and somatosensory regions in response to anticipation and consumption of food, but who show weaker activation in the striatum during food intake, may be at risk for overeating and consequent weight gain.
A meta-analytic review of depression prevention programs for children and adolescents: Factors that predict magnitude of intervention effects.
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,
, 2009
"... In this meta-analytic review, the authors summarized the effects of depression prevention programs for youth as well as investigated participant, intervention, provider, and research design features associated with larger effects. They identified 47 trials that evaluated 32 prevention programs, pro ..."
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In this meta-analytic review, the authors summarized the effects of depression prevention programs for youth as well as investigated participant, intervention, provider, and research design features associated with larger effects. They identified 47 trials that evaluated 32 prevention programs, producing 60 intervention effect sizes. The average effect for depressive symptoms from pre-to-posttreatment (r ϭ .15) and pretreatment to-follow-up (r ϭ .11) were small, but 13 (41%) prevention programs produced significant reductions in depressive symptoms and 4 (13%) produced significant reductions in risk for future depressive disorder onset relative to control groups. Larger effects emerged for programs targeting high-risk individuals, samples with more females, samples with older adolescents, programs with a shorter duration and with homework assignments, and programs delivered by professional interventionists. Intervention content (e.g., a focus on problem-solving training or reducing negative cognitions) and design features (e.g., use of random assignment and structured interviews) were unrelated to effect sizes. Results suggest that depression prevention efforts produce a higher yield if they incorporate factors associated with larger intervention effects (e.g., selective programs with a shorter duration that include homework). Keywords: depression prevention, adolescents, meta-analytic review Major depression is one of the most common psychiatric problems faced by adolescents, is marked by a recurrent course and elevated psychiatric comorbidity, and increases risk for future suicide attempts, academic failure, interpersonal problems, unemployment, and legal problems Although numerous trials of depression prevention programs have been conducted, the results of the findings have not been comprehensively reviewed and analyzed with meta-analytic procedures. In a recent meta-analytic review, Heather Shaw is now at the Oregon Research Institute. Preparation of this article was supported by a research grant MH 67183 from the National Institutes of Health. We thank Jane Gillham for her insightful and thoughtful comments on an earlier version of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Eric Stice, Oregon Research Institute, 1715 Franklin Blvd., Eugene, Oregon, 97403. E-mail: estice@ori.org Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology © 2009 American Psychological Association 2009, Vol. 77, No. 3, 486 -503 0022-006X/09/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0015168 486 moderators of program effectiveness, and by conducting a formal evaluation of interrater agreement for abstracted information. Putative Moderators of Intervention Effects Examining moderators that predict magnitude of prevention program effects may identify aspects of the participants, interventions, providers, and research design associated with stronger effects. This information should increase the yield of future prevention efforts by identification of the conditions under which optimal prevention effects occur and the subgroups of individuals for whom alternative depression prevention programs need to be developed. These analyses may also advance theories regarding effective routes to reduce risk for depressive episodes and enhance the methodological rigor of trials. Thus, we investigated several potential moderators of intervention effects that were selected on the basis of theory, prior findings, and past literature reviews. Participant Features Participant risk status. Meta-analytic reviews have found that prevention programs often produce significantly stronger effects when interventions are offered to high-risk participants (selective and indicated prevention programs) versus all individuals in a population (universal prevention programs) for various outcomes, including depression Participant gender. We hypothesized that the effects for depression prevention programs would be larger for female versus male youth on the basis of evidence that adolescent girls report greater depressive symptoms and higher rates of major depression than adolescent boys Participant ethnicity. We hypothesized that depression prevention programs would produce larger effects for samples containing greater proportions of ethnic minority youth, as there is evidence that ethnic minority youth report more depressive symptoms than White youth Participant age. We theorized that children and early adolescent youth may find it more difficult to grasp the concepts and skills taught in the interventions than older adolescents Intervention Features Program content. Intervention content should influence whether a program produces effects Intervention duration. Meta-analyses of prevention programs for other problems revealed that longer interventions produced superior effects compared with very brief interventions Homework. Theoretically, prevention programs that include homework exercises relevant to the principles taught in the program should produce larger intervention effects than programs without homework. Clinicians have similarly posited that homework strengthens the impact of treatment for depression Provider Features: Professional Interventionists Researchers have suggested that prevention programs are more effective when delivered by dedicated professional interventionists versus classroom teachers (Baranowski, Cullen, Nicklas, Design Features Random assignment. Trials in which participants are randomly assigned to condition should produce larger intervention effects than trials in which alternative approaches are used to allocate participants to condition (e.g., matching) because it is the best approach to generating groups that are equivalent on potential confounds at baseline (with sufficiently large sample sizes), which should minimize the odds that any of these confounds are correlated with treatment condition and maximize the ability to detect intervention effects. Accordingly, we hypothesized that intervention effects may be greater for trials that used random assignment relative to other allocation approaches. However, because the proper analysis of intervention effects involves tests of differential change across conditions, which adjusts for any initial differences at baseline on the outcome, we suspected that this effect might not emerge. Indeed, random assignment did not emerge as a moderator of effects sizes in meta-analytic reviews of eating disorder Publication status. Numerous meta-analytic reviews have documented a file-drawer phenomena Incorrect unit of analysis. In many prevention trials, the classrooms or schools are the unit of random assignment to condition, but the data are analyzed as if the individual was the unit of randomization. This practice increases the risk for a false-positive finding because it artificially reduces the error term and increases the between-condition effect. The degrees of freedom for the test statistics are also artificially inflated, and the assumption of independent errors is violated. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that trials in which the unit of random assignment was not equivalent to the unit of analysis would produce larger intervention effects than trials in which the unit of randomization and analyses matched. Follow-up duration. Effect sizes for prevention programs are typically strongest at posttest and become smaller at each subsequent follow-up assessment We were interested in additional moderators but were unable to include them for various reasons. We wanted to test whether effect sizes would be larger for programs that involved more extensive interventionist training and programs with higher session attendance and smaller for programs evaluated using blinded assessors, but reports did not contain sufficient detail for coding. Other moderators were not coded because they did not have sufficient variability, including whether (a) the intervention modality was individual or group (all were group), (b) the intervention had psychoeducational content (almost all included this content), (c) booster sessions were used (almost none used such sessions), (d) an intervention was interactive or didactic (almost all were interactive), and (e) the study outcome was assessed with validated measures (all included validated measures). Method Sample of Studies Five procedures were used to retrieve published and unpublished trials of depression prevention programs. First, a computer search was performed on PsychInfo, MedLine, and Dissertation Abstracts databases for the years 1980 -2008 with the following keywords: depression, depressive, prevention, preventive, and intervention. Two research assistants and a librarian performed independent searches. Eric Stice reviewed the products of all three searches to identify pertinent articles. Second, the tables of content for journals that commonly publish articles in this area were reviewed for this same period (e.g., Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology). Third, we consulted narrative reviews and prior meta-analytic reviews of the depression prevention field to search for additional citations. Fourth, the reference sections of all identified articles were examined. Finally, established depression prevention researchers were asked for copies of unpublished articles (under review or in press) describing prevention trials. STICE, SHAW, BOHON, MARTI, AND ROHDE Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria We focused exclusively on studies that included a continuous measure of depressive symptoms or conducted interviews assessing criteria for major depression. We also focused exclusively on trials that were conceptualized as depression prevention programs and did not include trials in which depressive symptoms were treated as a secondary outcome. If multiple reports of the same trial were published, we recorded effect sizes from all available followups. We focused on effect sizes testing for differential change in depressive symptoms because only nine trials tested whether the prevention program reduced the risk for onset of depression disorder among intervention participants relative to control participants. We included trials in which participants were randomly assigned to a depression prevention program or to an attention control condition, an assessment-only control condition, or a waitlist control condition. We also included trials in which some other relevant comparison group was used (e.g., matched controls) in a quasi-experimental design. We focused exclusively on studies that tested whether the change in the outcomes over time was significantly greater in the intervention group versus the control group. This could take the form of a Time ϫ Condition interaction in a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) model, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) model that controlled for initial levels of the outcome variable, or growth curve model that controlled for initial levels of the outcome. We also included trials that used logistic regression or survival models to test whether the incidence of major depression onset was significantly lower in the intervention condition versus a control condition, provided initially depressed participants were excluded from the analyses. We restricted our focus to trials that targeted children and adolescents because of our interest in determining whether effective interventions have been designed for this developmental period. We believe that depression prevention programs should be implemented before most individuals are expected to show onset of their first major depression episode. We used a broad view of adolescence and included trials with a mean age of participants up to age 22 because this captured college-based depression prevention programs. Many developmental psychologists consider adolescence to span from approximately age 12 through age 24 (Arnett, 2000). Effect Size Estimation Procedures We calculated effect sizes for tests of differential change in depressive symptoms across the intervention and control conditions. However, if only the effect size for differential risk for onset of major depression across the conditions was available, that was used as the effect size. The correlation coefficient (r) was used as the index of effect size because of its similar interpretation across different combinations of interval, ordinal, and nominal variables (Pearson's r, Spearman's rho, and point biserial; Rosenthal, 1991) and because this effect size preserved the valence of the effects. Cohen's (1988) criteria for small (r ϭ .10), medium (r ϭ .30), and large (r ϭ .50) effects were used. If effect sizes were reported in Cohen's (1988) d, we converted them to r with the formula provided on Page 20 of Operationalization and Coding of Effect Size Moderators An iterative approach was taken to ensure reliable abstraction of moderators from the reports. First, Heather Shaw and Cara Bohon generated a coding system for the moderators on an a priori basis. Second, they coded a sample of 10 studies and then discussed and resolved all discrepancies, refining the coding system as necessary. Third, the remaining studies were then coded independently and reliability coefficients calculated. Finally, Heather Shaw and Cara Bohon held consensus meetings to resolve any remaining disagreements with regard to the coding of moderators. This final corrected data set was used for all analyses. Results Descriptive Statistics The literature search identified 46 trials that met the inclusion criteria, in which 32 different depression prevention programs 489 DEPRESSION PREVENTION PROGRAMS were evaluated (11 trials evaluated more than 1 program, and 9 programs were evaluated in 2-8 trials), resulting in a total of 60 effect sizes. We calculated interrater agreement between the two moderator coders for all trials included in this review (see Average Effect Size and Effect Size Heterogeneity A Statistical Analysis System (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) macro that computed inverse variance-weighted average effect sizes for The r values for posttest effect sizes ranged from Ϫ.47 to .68. There was significant heterogeneity in effect sizes at posttest (Q ϭ 528.76, p Ͻ .001), indicating variability across effect sizes. The average follow-up effect size across all studies (M r ϭ .11) was significantly larger than zero (z ϭ 6.40, p Ͻ .001). The r values for follow-up effect sizes ranged from Ϫ.18 to .76. There was also significant heterogeneity in effect sizes at follow-up (Q ϭ 145.69, p Ͻ .001). Relations of Moderators to Observed Effects Sizes Moderator analyses were conducted using inverse varianceweighted random-effects regression models. Random-effects models separate the overall variability in observed effect sizes from the within-intervention variance. If studies are treated as a source of random variability, random effects models can be generalized to a broader set of studies or potential studies. Regression models with maximum likelihood estimation were conducted using a SAS macro written for meta-analysis Moderators were examined individually in regression models to investigate the univariate relations between moderators and effect sizes. Although some meta-analyses have used multivariate approaches that test whether each moderator shows a unique relation to effect sizes statistically controlling for the other moderators (Perepletchikov, Treat, & Kazdin, 2007; The four continuous moderators-percentage of females, percentage of Whites, average age, and intervention duration-were standardized in a z score format. We tested for linear and quadratic effects for the continuous moderators to decrease the risk of model misspecification Results for all univariate models are presented in 1 Risk status of participants was also a significant predictor of effect sizes from follow-up assessments: selective trials exhibited a moderate average effect size (M r ϭ .14, p Ͻ .001, n ϭ 28), but universally implemented programs exhibited a small average effect size (M r ϭ .06, p Ͻ .001, n ϭ 21), though both effects differed significantly from zero. The percentage of the participants who were female in the trials was significantly related to effects sizes. 2 At posttest, interventions below the median (Ն 53% females) exhibited a small nonsignificant average effect size (M r ϭ .05, p ϭ ns, n ϭ 26), whereas the average effect for interventions at or above the median was moderate and significant (M r ϭ .22, p Ͻ .001, n ϭ 32). A similar effect was observed with effect sizes from follow-ups: interventions below the median exhibited a small average effect size that was significant (M r ϭ .09, p Ͻ .001, n ϭ 21) and interventions at or above the median showed larger effects (M r ϭ .12, p Ͻ .001, n ϭ 27). Percentage of White participants exhibited a quadratic effect at posttest. Probing this pattern with tertile splits revealed that effects were similar for the lowest tertile, which was less than 55% Whites (M r ϭ .24, p Ͻ .001, n ϭ 11), and the middle tertile, which was between 55% and 83% Whites (M r ϭ .25, p Ͻ .001, n ϭ 13), but effect sizes were trivial and nonsignificant for interventions containing greater than 83% White participants (M r ϭ .04, p ϭ ns, n ϭ 11). Participant age was a significant predictor of effect size at posttest; 1 We also compared selective versus indicated programs to ensure that it was reasonable to combine these two types of programs. There were no differences between selective and indicated programs at posttest (z ϭ Ϫ.69, p ϭ .49) or at follow-up (z ϭ 1.60, p ϭ .11). 2
Effects of Exercise Interventions on Body Image
"... Our meta-analysis examined the impact of exercise interventions on body image; and participant, intervention, and design features associated with larger effects. We identified 57 interventions (with pre-and post-data for the exercise and control groups) examining the effects of exercise on body imag ..."
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Our meta-analysis examined the impact of exercise interventions on body image; and participant, intervention, and design features associated with larger effects. We identified 57 interventions (with pre-and post-data for the exercise and control groups) examining the effects of exercise on body image. A small random effect indicated that exercise intervention conditions had improved body image compared to control conditions; and that participant (age), design (year of publication), and intervention (exercise frequency and specificity) features moderated the effect size. Research examining the mechanisms and the exercise dose-response required for body image change is needed.
A Coordinated School Health Approach to Obesity Prevention among
"... The Winning With Wellness (WWW) project was a school-based obesity prevention program that was developed to promote healthy eating and physical activity in youth residing in rural Appalachia. The project was based on the Coordinated School Health model (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CD ..."
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The Winning With Wellness (WWW) project was a school-based obesity prevention program that was developed to promote healthy eating and physical activity in youth residing in rural Appalachia. The project was based on the Coordinated School Health model (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2013a) and used a community-based participatory research approach with an emphasis on feasibility and sustainability. The purpose of this study was to examine self-reported health outcomes for middle school students across the course of the intervention. Sixth grade middle school students (N = 149; 52 % girls) from four schools in Northeast Tennessee completed a survey assessing demographic factors and health behaviors as well as the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL, Varni, Seid, & Kurtin, 2001) at baseline and follow-up, approximately 9-months after project implementation. Across the course of the intervention there were no
Cognitive regulation of food craving: effects of three cognitive reappraisal strategies on neural response to palatable foods. Int J Obes (Lond
, 2013
"... Objective—Obese versus lean individuals show greater reward region and reduced inhibitory region responsivity to food images, which predict future weight gain. Thinking of the costs of eating palatable foods and craving suppression have been found to modulate this neural responsivity, but these cogn ..."
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Objective—Obese versus lean individuals show greater reward region and reduced inhibitory region responsivity to food images, which predict future weight gain. Thinking of the costs of eating palatable foods and craving suppression have been found to modulate this neural responsivity, but these cognitive reappraisal studies have primarily involved lean participants. Herein we evaluated the efficacy of a broader range of reappraisal strategies in modulating neural responsivity to palatable food images among individuals who ranged from lean to obese and tested whether Body Mass Index (BMI) moderates the effects of these strategies. Materials and method—functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) assessed the effects of three cognitive reappraisal strategies in response to palatable food images versus an imagined intake comparison condition in a sample of adolescents (N = 21; M age = 15.2). Results—Thinking of the long-term costs of eating the food, thinking of the long-term benefits of not eating the food, and attempting to suppress cravings for the food increased activation in inhibitory regions (e.g., superior frontal gyrus, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) and reduced activation in attention-related regions (e.g., precuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex). The reappraisal strategy focusing on the long-term benefits of not eating the food more effectively increased inhibitory region activity and reduced attention region activity compared to the other two cognitive reappraisal strategies. BMI did not moderate the effects. Discussion—These novel results imply that cognitive reappraisal strategies, in particular those focusing on the benefits of not eating the food, could potentially increase the ability to inhibit appetitive motivation and reduce unhealthy food intake in overweight individuals.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy for physical and emotional disturbance in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome: A pilot study
- Journal of Pediatric Psychology
, 2008
"... Objective To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an enhanced cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT), Primary and Secondary Control Enhancement Training (PASCET-PI-2), for physical (obesity) and emotional (depression) disturbances in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Method In ..."
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Objective To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an enhanced cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT), Primary and Secondary Control Enhancement Training (PASCET-PI-2), for physical (obesity) and emotional (depression) disturbances in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Method In an open trial, 12 adolescents with PCOS, obesity, and depression underwent eight weekly sessions and three family-based sessions of CBT enhanced by lifestyle goals (nutrition and exercise), physical illness narrative (meaning of having PCOS), and family psychoeducation (family functioning). Results Weight showed a significant decrease across the eight sessions from an average of 104 kg (SD 26) to an average of 93 kg (SD 18), t(11) 6.6, p<.05. Depressive symptoms on the Children’s Depression Inventory significantly decreased from a mean of 17 (SD 3) to a mean of 9.6 (SD 2), t(11) 16.8, p<.01. Conclusion A manual-based CBT approach to treat depression in adolescents with PCOS and obesity appears to be promising. Key words cognitive–behavioral therapy; depression; obesity; polycystic ovary syndrome; weight loss. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women, with prevalence rates of 5–10 % and diagnosis frequently during adolescence (Arslanian, Lewy, Danadian, & Saad, 2002). While the
The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 3, 7. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-3-7
- BMJ OPEN
, 2012
"... Abstract Background: Forming implementation intentions (specifying when, where and how to act) has been proposed as a potentially effective and inexpensive intervention, but has mainly been studied in controlled settings for straightforward behaviors. ..."
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Abstract Background: Forming implementation intentions (specifying when, where and how to act) has been proposed as a potentially effective and inexpensive intervention, but has mainly been studied in controlled settings for straightforward behaviors.
Dimitropoulos A. Neural correlates to food-related behavior in normal-weight and overweight/obese participants. PLoS One (2012
"... Two thirds of US adults are either obese or overweight and this rate is rising. Although the etiology of obesity is not yet fully understood, neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the central nervous system has a principal role in regulating eating behavior. In this study, functional magnetic ..."
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Two thirds of US adults are either obese or overweight and this rate is rising. Although the etiology of obesity is not yet fully understood, neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the central nervous system has a principal role in regulating eating behavior. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging and survey data were evaluated for correlations between food-related problem behaviors and the neural regions underlying responses to visual food cues before and after eating in normal-weight individuals and overweight/obese individuals. In normal-weight individuals, activity in the left amygdala in response to high-calorie food vs. nonfood object cues was positively correlated with impaired satiety scores during fasting, suggesting that those with impaired satiety scores may have an abnormal anticipatory reward response. In overweight/obese individuals, activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in response to low-calorie food cues was negatively correlated with impaired satiety during fasting, suggesting that individuals scoring lower in satiety impairment were more likely to activate the DLPFC inhibitory system. After eating, activity in both the putamen and the amygdala was positively correlated with impaired satiety scores among obese/overweight participants. While these individuals may volitionally suggest they are full, their functional response to food cues suggests food continues to be salient. These findings suggest brain regions involved in the evaluation of visual food cues may be mediated by satiety-related problems, dependent on calorie content, state of satiation, and body mass index.
Health policy strategies for the treatment of obesity: a systematic review.
- International Journal of Caring Sciences,
, 2010
"... ABSTRACT Introduction: The phenomenon of obesity has nowadays become an epidemic, as it seems to greatly affect the populations of both developed and developing countries. General issues involving the evaluation of the phenomenon, its consequences and the health policies that can be used to confron ..."
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ABSTRACT Introduction: The phenomenon of obesity has nowadays become an epidemic, as it seems to greatly affect the populations of both developed and developing countries. General issues involving the evaluation of the phenomenon, its consequences and the health policies that can be used to confront it, are discussed. Objectives: The objectives of this paper were to critically discuss and analyze the relation between obesity and major diseases of the western societies such as cancers and diabetes mellitus. Furthermore its aim was to demonstrate the direct relation between various prevention strategies and the reduction of the phenomenon. Method: An online search in Medline, Pumed and the Cochrane Database of peer-reviewed Systematic Reviews and meta-analysis was conducted. Retrieved studies were screened to meet certain inclusion criteria, i.e. relevance, significant meanings in correspondence with this paper's objectives and of interest to an international health-professional readership. Results: There is a clear demonstration of the direct relation between obesity and a series of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and coronary disease. Obesity also seems to be directly related to an increased incidence of caesarian sections and gestational diabetes mellitus. Reduced smoking rates during pregnancy and an increased time of breastfeeding seem to have a protective role. The importance of physical training, of a "healthy nutritional model" adopted by the parents, and of the Mediterranean diet are shown to be fundamental in the confrontation of the phenomenon. Additionally, family doctor interventions, cognitivebehavioral therapy and internet-mediated actions seem to sufficiently aid in its prevention. Conclusion: There is a clear proof that certain primary and secondary prevention strategies along with the the increase of health-concience in communities may lead to the decrease in the rates of obesity and its undoubtfully harmful consequences.