Biomedical subjects

Elizabeth Didie

Publications and source records attributed to Elizabeth Didie.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Multiple types of dieting prospectively predict weight gain during the freshman year of college.

The freshman year of college is a period of heightened risk for weight gain. This study examined measures of restrained eating, disinhibition, and emotional eating as predictors of weight gain during the freshman year. Using Lowe's multi-factorial model of dieting, it also examined three different types of dieting as predictors of weight gain. Sixty-nine females were assessed at three points during the school year. Weight gain during the freshman year averaged 2.1 kg. None of the traditional self-report measures of restraint, disinhibition, or emotional eating were predictive of weight gain. However, both a history of weight loss dieting and weight suppression (discrepancy between highest weight ever and current weight) predicted greater weight gain, and these effects appeared to be largely independent of one another. Individuals who said they were currently dieting to lose weight gained twice as much (5.0 kg) as former dieters (2.5 kg) and three times as much as never dieters (1.6 kg), but the import of this finding was unclear because there was only a small number of current dieters (N = 7). Overall the results indicate that specific subtypes of dieting predicts weight gain during the freshman year better than more global measures of restraint or overeating.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Promoting more modest weight losses: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study assessed the short- and long-term effects of a modified cognitive behavioral treatment designed to facilitate obese patients' acceptance of a 5% to 10% reduction in initial weight. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Participants were 17 women with a mean age of 46.5 +/- 9.7 years and BMI of 34.7 +/- 2.9 kg/m2. They participated in a 40-week program that included four phases. The first discussed the benefits of modest weight losses and the potential adverse effects of unrealistic expectations. Phase II provided instruction in traditional cognitive behavioral methods of weight control Phase III focused on methods to improve body image and self-esteem. Phase IV addressed skills for weight maintenance. Changes in weight, self-esteem, body image, and quality of life were assessed at the end of treatment and 1 year later (week 92). RESULTS: At week 40, participants lost an average of 5.7 +/- 5.3% of initial weight, which was associated with significant improvements in body image, self-esteem, and quality of life. Improvements in psychosocial status were maintained at week 92, although mean weight loss at this time had declined to 2.9 +/- 5.6% of initial weight. Increased satisfaction with body weight at week 40 was associated with significantly better maintenance of weight loss at follow-up (r = -0.70; p = 0.02). DISCUSSION: Having participants seek only modest initial weight losses does not appear to facilitate weight maintenance. However, increasing patients' satisfaction with their body weight at the end of treatment may help improve weight maintenance. More research is needed on the relation between satisfaction with initial weight loss and long-term success.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

What's in a name? Patients' preferred terms for describing obesity.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the terms that obese individuals find undesirable or desirable for their doctors to use to describe excess weight of 27.3 kg (i.e., 50 lb) or more. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The study surveyed 167 women and 52 men with a mean BMI of 35.3 and 35.1 kg/m(2), respectively, who participated in one of two randomized trials on the treatment of obesity. An additional sample consisted of 105 extremely obese women (i.e., mean BMI of 52.5 kg/m(2)) who sought bariatric surgery. Patients rated the desirability of 11 terms used to describe excess weight. Ratings were made on five-point scales, ranging from very desirable (+2) to neutral (0) to very undesirable (-2). RESULTS: Obese women (N = 167) rated as undesirable to very undesirable the terms fatness (mean rating = -1.8), excess fat (-1.4), obesity (-1.4), and large size (-1.3). These four terms were rated as significantly more (all p < or = 0.001) undesirable than the seven remaining descriptors, which included weight, heaviness, BMI, excess weight, unhealthy body weight, weight problem, and unhealthy BMI. The term weight received a mean rating of 1.1, a value significantly more (all p < or = 0.001) desirable than that for all other descriptors. Highly similar ratings of the terms were provided by obese men (N = 52) and extremely obese women (N = 105). DISCUSSION: Practitioners may wish to avoid the use of potentially derogatory terms such as fatness and obesity when broaching the topic of weight management with patients.

Adult↗