weight loss news
Dieting Does Not Lead to Binge Eating and Depression
Mpls., MN September 1, 2004: For many years healthcare professionals have been concerned
that dieting can trigger depression and binge eating disorders. A study conducted by researchers in the Department
of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and published in the September issue of the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrates sensible dieting, including the use of OPTIFAST® meal replacement formulas,
does not lead to binge eating, depression, or other negative behaviors in obese women undergoing weight reduction.
A copy of the University of Pennsylvania press release regarding this study follows.
Penn Study Shows Dieting Not Associated With Binge Eating or Depression in Obese Women
(Philadelphia, PA) - Concern about possible adverse effects of dieting has prevailed since the 1950s when a study drastically
cut the calorie intake of average-weight volunteers and found that many developed depression and binge eating. Experts
today believe that aggressive dieting in young females may be associated with psychological or physical deprivation that
contributes to binge eating, bulimia nervosa, and related eating disorders.
Now a study by researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
has shown that sensible dieting does not appear to precipitate binge eating, depression, or other negative behavioral consequences
in obese women undergoing weight reduction. The study appears in the September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
and is the first designed specifically to determine whether dieting is associated with ill effects. "These findings should reassure
overweight and obese adults who are trying to lose weight, as well as health professionals who recommend dieting," said
Thomas Wadden, PhD, lead investigator and director of Penn's Weight and Eating Disorders Program.
The Penn study examined 123 women with a mean age of 44 years and weight of 214 pounds, who were determined by an examiner
to be completely free of binge eating prior to the start of treatment. The women were randomly assigned to one of three dietary interventions:
- a meal replacement that prescribed 1000 calories/day during the first 12 weeks and included the consumption
of four liquid shakes (OPTIFAST 800) a day.
- a conventional diet of self-selected foods with a goal of 1,200 - 1,500 calories/day,
- a non-dieting approach that encouraged patients to avoid calorie restriction in favor of paying
closer attention to their hunger and fullness levels.
All women received group treatment for 40 weeks and participated in a six-month follow-up evaluation.
At week 40, women in the meal replacement group had lost 24 pounds, the conventional dieters
had lost 18 pounds, and those in the non-diet group had lost 2 pounds. Women in the two dieting
groups reported significantly greater reductions in symptoms of depression at week 40, than those in the non-dieting group.
Participants in all three groups reported significant reductions in hunger.
Binge eating was assessed at weeks 9, 20, 28, 40, and 65 of the study. At week 28,
there was a very small but statistically significant increase in reports of binge eating in women
in the meal replacement group. The increase, however, declined by week 40 and there were no significant differences
between the three groups in the number of binge episodes at any of the other four assessment periods, including
the 6-month follow-up evaluation. "Our findings indicate that dieting, including the use of meal replacements,
presents few risks of binge eating or depression in obese women who seek to lose weight by using sensible methods,"
commented Wadden. "This conclusion, however, should not be interpreted as a denial of the potential perils of
aggressive dieting in adolescent girls and young women of average weight who pursue an ever thinner ideal," he added.
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