The dieting maelstrom: Is it possible and advisable to lose weight?

Brownell, Kelly D.; Rodin, Judith

doi:10.1037/0003-066x.49.9.781

Cited by 222 publications

(179 citation statements)

References 87 publications

(149 reference statements)

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“…Although dieting is pervasive in our society, weight loss attempts meet with limited success. 22 The futility of these attempts coupled with the constantly reinforced notion of weight management being synonymous with personal control 'if I'm in control of my weight I'm in control of my life' 23 may impair QoL. These data may go some way to explaining the increased morbidity shown with repeated cycles of intentional weight loss.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The relationship between quality of life and perceived body weight and dieting history in Dutch men and women

2001

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OBJECTIVES: (1) To study the relationship between quality of life (QoL) and measured and perceived weight and dieting history in Dutch men and women; (2) to assess the effect of weight loss over a 5 y period on QoL. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study, in a sub-sample longitudinal over 5 y. SUBJECTS: A total of 2155 men and 2446 women, aged 20-59 and recruited from the general population from three towns in The Netherlands. MEASUREMENTS: Body weight, height, self-administered questionnaire including questions concerning demographic variables and weight loss practices as part of the Dutch Monitoring project on Risk Factors for Chronic Disease (MORGEN). The Rand-36 questionnaire was used as the QoL measure. RESULTS: In men, measured overweight (body mass index, BMI>25 kg=m 2 ) was not associated with any dimension of QoL after adjustment for age, educational level and perceived overweight. Perceived overweight was related to reduced scores for general health and vitality. This relationship was independent of measured obesity. A history of repeated weight loss was associated with reduced scores for role functioning due to both physical and emotional problems. In women, measured overweight was significantly associated with lower scores for five out of eight QoL dimensions and perceived overweight with three: general health, vitality and physical functioning. A history of frequent weight loss was related to significantly reduced scores in six dimensions. However, only with history of frequent weight loss, and uniquely in women, was there a significant reduction in scores on mental health and limited emotional role functioning. Measured and perceived overweight and frequent weight loss were all related to reduced scores for physical functioning. Longitudinal data indicate that in older women weight gain of 10% body weight or more was associated with a significant deterioration in QoL. CONCLUSIONS: When looking at measures of QoL in relation to overweight it is important to separate the effects of perception of weight status and history of weight loss. We observed that the latter two factors were associated with reduced scores on several dimensions of QoL, particularly in women. These associations were observed to be independent of body weight.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The relationship between quality of life and perceived body weight and dieting history in Dutch men and women

2001

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“…In the midst of this controversy that has spanned almost 30 years, concerns about the safety of dieting were raised due to the potential for weight cycling following a period of intentional food/calorie restriction (Brownell & Rodin, 1994). These concerns led to a substantial backlash against dieting that has been termed the anti-dieting movement (Hill, 2004;Lowe & Levine, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement of dietary restraint: Validity tests of four questionnaires

et al. 2007

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This study tested the validity of four measures of dietary restraint: Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, Eating Inventory (EI), Revised Restraint Scale (RS), and the Current Dieting Questionnaire. Dietary restraint has been implicated as a determinant of overeating and binge eating. Conflicting findings have been attributed to different methods for measuring dietary restraint. The validity of four self-report measures of dietary restraint and dieting behavior was tested using: 1) factor analysis, 2) changes in dietary restraint in a randomized controlled trial of different methods to achieve calorie restriction, and 3) correlation of changes in dietary restraint with an objective measure of energy balance, calculated from the changes in fat mass and fat-free mass over a sixmonth dietary intervention. Scores from all four questionnaires, measured at baseline, formed a dietary restraint factor, but the RS also loaded on a binge eating factor. Based on change scores, the EI Restraint scale was the only measure that correlated significantly with energy balance expressed as a percentage of energy require d for weight maintenance. These findings suggest that that, of the four questionnaires tested, the EI Restraint scale was the most valid measure of the intent to diet and actual caloric restriction.

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“…However, given that the long-term outcome of clinical treatment of obesity is poor, and the cost of treatment is high 6,7 , health authorities have recently recognized the importance of preventing weight gain as the essential ®rst step toward reducing the prevalence of obesity. Population-wide prevention of obesity has been described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an approach which is more likely to be cost-effective and have a greater impact on long-term control of body weight than strategies aimed at those already overweight or obese 3 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The public's response to the obesity epidemic in Australia: weight concerns and weight control practices of men and women

Timperio

Cameron‐Smith

Burns

et al. 2000

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To assess weight perceptions, weight concerns and weight control behaviours and related beliefs in a representative sample of adults. Design: Cross-sectional postal survey. Setting: The survey was conducted between October and December 1997 in the state of Victoria, Australia. Subjects: A total of 2500 subjects were selected at random from the Australian electoral roll; 900 provided usable responses. Results: At the time of the survey, 2.7% of respondents were trying to gain weight, 26.6% were trying to avoid gaining weight, 22.9% were trying to lose weight and 47.9% were not doing anything for their weight. Men (47.2%) were less likely than women (55.3%) to be attempting any form of weight control. Watching the type of food eaten (95.6%), reducing dietary fat intake (87.3%) and engaging in physical activity or exercise (84.4%) were the most common weight control strategies used. Potentially harmful strategies, such as self-induced vomiting and smoking, were used by relatively few respondents. Many adults believed that vigorous activity (26.8%) and total omission of fat from the diet (35.3%) are necessary in order to lose weight. Conclusions: Attempts at weight control are common in the community. However, many men, including men who are already overweight, appear to be unconcerned about their weight. Obesity prevention initiatives should attempt to in¯uence individuals' weight-related beliefs and behaviours, as well as seeking to change policies and environments to better support weight control.

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The dieting maelstrom: Is it possible and advisable to lose weight?

Cited by 222 publications

References 87 publications

The relationship between quality of life and perceived body weight and dieting history in Dutch men and women

The relationship between quality of life and perceived body weight and dieting history in Dutch men and women

Measurement of dietary restraint: Validity tests of four questionnaires

The public's response to the obesity epidemic in Australia: weight concerns and weight control practices of men and women

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