A school-based program implemented by community providers previously trained for the prevention of eating and weight-related problems in secondary-school adolescents: the MABIC study protocol

Abstract

BackgroundThe prevention of eating disorders and disordered eating are increasingly recognized as public health priorities. Challenges in this field included moving from efficacy to effectiveness and developing an integrated approach to the prevention of a broad spectrum of eating and weight-related problems. A previous efficacy trial indicated that a universal disordered eating prevention program, based on the social cognitive model, media literacy educational approach and cognitive dissonance theory, reduced risk factors for disordered eating, but it is unclear whether this program has effects under more real-world conditions. The main aim of this effectiveness trial protocol is to test whether this program has effects when incorporating an integrated approach to prevention and when previously-trained community providers implement the intervention.Methods/designThe research design involved a multi-center non-randomized controlled trial with baseline, post and 1-year follow-up measures. Six schools from the city of Sabadell (close to Barcelona) participated in the intervention group, and eleven schools from four towns neighboring Sabadell participated in the control group. A total of 174 girls and 180 boys in the intervention group, and 484 girls and 490 boys in the control group were registered in class lists prior to baseline. A total of 18 community providers, secondary-school class tutors, nurses from the Catalan Government’s Health and School Program, and health promotion technicians from Sabadell City Council were trained and delivered the program. Shared risk factors of eating and weight-related problems were assessed as main measures.DiscussionIt will be vital for progress in disordered eating prevention to conduct effectiveness trials, which test whether interventions are effective when delivered by community providers under ecologically valid conditions, as opposed to tightly controlled research trials. The MABIC project will provide new contributions in this transition from efficacy to effectiveness and new data about progress in the integrated approach to prevention. Pending the results, the effectiveness trial meets the effectiveness standards set down by the Society for Prevention Research. This study will provide new evidence to improve and enhance disordered eating prevention programs.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN47682626

A controlled study of an integrated prevention program for improving disordered eating and body image among Mexican university students: A 3‐month follow‐up

“…Finally, our hypothesis that changes would be more prevalent among female university students was also partially proven as the female students in the EG_OBEyTA indeed improved their primary variables more than the male sample; however, both women and men did not present significant changes over time for the secondary variables. Our results regarding this aspect of prevention correspond with the results in the MABIC program (Sánchez‐Carracedo et al, ; Sánchez‐Carracedo et al, ), the Healthy Schools , Healthy Kids program (McVey et al, ), and the Healthy Weight 2 program (Stice, Rohde, Shaw, et al, ), which all presented a reduction in internalization of beauty standards among women. These results are also associated with the fact that our students started to present unhealthy weight loss behaviours less frequently and as a result were apparently at lower risk of developing disordered eating.…”

“…Only seven integrated prevention programs were found after our review (Haines, Neumark‐Sztainer, Perry, Hannan, & Levine, ; Kass et al, ; McVey, Tweed, & Blackmore, ; Neumark‐Sztainer et al, ; Sánchez‐Carracedo et al, ; Sánchez‐Carracedo et al, ; Stice, Rohde, Shaw, & Marti, ; Wilksch et al, ). These programs were, however, designed and implemented mainly for younger ages (10–15 year olds), except Stice, Rohde, Shaw, et al () or Kass et al () aimed to university students.…”

Intuitive Eating

“…Responses were coded as No = 0 and Yes = 1. We used the Spanish version administered in the MABIC Project by Sánchez-Carracedo et al (2013).…”

Mediterranean diet adherence among Catalonian adolescents: socio-economic and lifestyle factors

“…The present data are part of the baseline of the MABIC study (26,27), a multi-centre non-randomized controlled effectiveness trial for the reduction of risk factors of eating and weight-related problems in adolescent girls and boys. MABIC is a Spanish acronym for four risk factors of disordered eating with strong empirical support: "M" for media pressures and beauty-ideal internalization ("Medios de comunicación" in Spanish); "A" for dieting and disordered eating ("Alimentación alterada" in Spanish); "B" for weight-related teasing ("Burlas relacionadas con el peso" in Spanish); and, "IC" for body dissatisfaction ("Insatisfacción corporal" in Spanish).…”