The transition to college has been identified as a critical period for increases in overweight status. Overweight college students are at-risk of becoming obese adults, and, thus prevention efforts targeting college age individuals are key to reducing adult obesity rates. The current study evaluated an Internet intervention with first year college students (N = 170) randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: 1) no treatment, 2) 6-week online intervention 3) 6-week weight and caloric feedback only (via email), and 4) 6-week combined feedback and online intervention. The combined intervention group had lower BMIs at post-testing than the other three groups. This study demonstrated the effectiveness and feasibility of an online intervention to prevent weight gain among college students.

Introduction Binge and loss of control (LOC) eating are significant concerns among many adolescents and are associated with poor physical, social, and psychological functioning. Black girls appear to be particularly vulnerable to binge and LOC eating. Yet, empirically validated, culturally sensitive treatments for these disordered eating behaviors are not well established. This investigation examined satisfaction, feasibility, and preliminary outcomes of a binge eating intervention for ethnically diverse adolescent girls. Methods Participants were 45 girls (age 13-17 years; 44.4% white, 42.2% black) randomized into a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)-based intervention (Linking Individuals Being Emotionally Real, LIBER8) or a weight management group (2BFit). Following each meeting, participants completed satisfaction measures, and therapists assessed intervention feasibility. Participants also completed assessments of eating behavior and related psychological constructs at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and at 3-month follow-up. Results Descriptive statistics indicated that LIBER8 was feasible, and participants were highly satisfied with this intervention. Significant reductions in eating disorder cognitions, dietary restraint, and eating in response to negative affect were observed for participants in both groups, with no differences between LIBER8 and 2BFit. Discussion The acceptability and feasibility of LIBER8 and associated reductions in emotional eating show promise in ameliorating binge eating and provide insight into multiple options for treating this challenging eating concern.

Most measures of eating disorder symptoms and risk factors were developed in predominantly White female samples. Yet eating disorders affect individuals of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Black women appear more vulnerable to certain forms of eating pathology, such as binge eating, and less susceptible to other eating disorder symptoms and risk factors, such as body dissatisfaction, compared with their White peers. Despite concern that extant measures do not adequately assess eating concerns among Black women, the construct validity of scores on most of these measures has not been adequately examined within this population. This study included 2,208 Black and White women who completed the following: the Binge Eating Scale (BES), the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS), the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), the Eating Disorder Inventory Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness subscales, the Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R), the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Evaluation subscale (MBSRQ-AE), and the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS). Most measures yielded internally consistent scores in both races. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that loadings for some measures, including the EAT-26 and EDDS, were not invariant across groups and thus do not assess equivalent constructs in White and Black women. However, others, including the BULIT-R, BES, OBCS, and MBSRQ-AE, exhibited factorial invariance in both races. Results suggest scores are likely not equivalent across races for several popular measures of eating disorder symptoms and risk factors. Thus, it is recommended that researchers and clinicians obtain additional information regarding racial/cultural factors when using these instruments with Black women.

Objective Although there is general agreement that parents should be involved in pediatric obesity treatment, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of interventions that target parents exclusively. Moreover, the effectiveness of this approach has not been adequately assessed with racially diverse families, particularly African Americans, a group at high risk for elevated Body Mass Index (BMI). Methods NOURISH (Nourishing Our Understanding of Role modeling to Improve Support and Health) is a culturally-sensitive parenting intervention targeting overweight African American children (ages 6–11; MBMI = 98.0%). Families (N = 84; 61% AA, 37% White) were randomly assigned to NOURISH or a control group. Results NOURISH families significantly improved on child BMI from pre- to post-testing after adjustment for random effects, baseline BMI, and child race. NOURISH parents were very satisfied with the intervention and would recommend it to other parents; 91% strongly or moderately agreed that NOURISH helped them eat in a healthier manner. Conclusions These pilot data suggest NOURISH is acceptable and, with refinement, offers promise for reducing pediatric BMI. Outcomes, lessons learned, and parent feedback will inform a larger randomized controlled trial.

Summary Background Attrition and treatment adherence are notorious challenges in paediatric obesity interventions. Objective To evaluate if brief, pretreatment motivational interviewing (MI) can improve retention (at baseline, post‐assessment and follow‐up assessment) and adherence (i.e. attendance) in a parent‐exclusive paediatric obesity intervention. Methods MI was implemented with parents as an adjunct to a larger randomized controlled trial of Nourishing Our Understanding of Role‐modeling to Improve Support and Health (NOURISH+), a parent intervention for children with overweight ages 5–11 years. Parents (N = 112) were randomized to receive two MI sessions (one telephone and one in person) or reminder calls. Results Parents (91% women; 52% African American) who completed one telephone MI session were more likely to attend baseline (74%) compared with parents who received reminder calls only (53%, p < .001). After a second MI session, there were no group differences in treatment initiation (p > .05). Treatment attendance, post or 4‐month follow‐up assessment completion did not differ between conditions (p > .05). Conclusion One MI session implemented prior to treatment can improve baseline attendance; a second MI session did not enhance these effects. A single‐session telephone‐based MI pretreatment might be a cost and time‐effective strategy to enhance recruitment efforts. Further strategies to address retention and treatment attendance are needed.

Pediatric overweight is associated with numerous physical and psychological health risks, and overweight children are at significant risk for obesity in adulthood. African-American children are at particularly high risk for obesity and related health complications. However, this racial group has traditionally had limited access to obesity treatment and relatively few studies have included sufficient numbers of lower-SES, African American participants. Further, although parental involvement in treatment for pediatric overweight has been found to be beneficial, few studies have examined the efficacy of offering treatment exclusively to parents, a potentially cost-effective approach which could benefit the entire family. This pilot project will evaluate the efficacy of an intensive parenting intervention, (NOURISH; Nourishing Our Understanding of Role modeling to Improve Support and Health), targeting racially diverse parents of overweight children (ages 6–11). NOURISH addresses several urgent research priorities by targeting the underserved and addressing the significant disparity in obesity treatment services. Parents meeting study criteria (having a child between the ages of 6 and 11 with a BMI ≥ the 85th percentile) will be offered participation in the randomized trial comparing NOURISH with a control group. We hypothesize that children whose parents participate in NOURISH will manifest greater decreases in BMI, and greater improvements in dietary intake, and quality of life compared to children whose parents do not participate. This study is designed explicitly to gather preliminary feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness data to inform a subsequent larger randomized controlled trial.

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Entertainment magazine websites provide a continuous stream of celebrity news accessed by over 13 million unique viewers each month. Celebrities’ experiences of pregnancy and new motherhood appear to be popular topics within these media outlets; however, little research has investigated the content of this coverage. In this study, investigators coded articles (N = 387) published between August 1, 2007 and August 1, 2008 on three popular entertainment magazine websites. Relatively few articles about celebrities’ pregnancies discussed weight (13%) or shape (30%), and an even smaller proportion (6.2%) included any discussion of postpartum body dissatisfaction. This suggests a gap between portrayal of celebrities’ pregnancies and postpartum experiences and those of non-celebrity women. This disparity is concerning as it might lead to unrealistic expectations about pregnancy and postpartum for both pregnant readers and a more general audience. This study provides important initial information about the messages these media provide regarding pregnancy-related appearance.