Treating obesity: A qualitative evaluation of a lifestyle intervention for weight reduction

Abstract

Objective To identify which factors are considered important for eating habits and weight change in obese participants in a one-year weight reduction programme at a primary health care centre. Design A qualitative study of factors affecting participants' eating habits and weight change before, during and after the programme. Settiiig The primary health care centre where the programme was taking place. Method Fifteen participants were interviewed three times during the programme and once one year after the intervention programme had ended.Results Fourteen participants described how emotion and factors other than hunger, such as stress, need for affinity, depression, worry or tiredness affected their eating habits. The only participant to describe 'hunger' as the only reason for eating reached the greatest weight reduction after two years. Emotional eating continued to affect the eating habits and weight gain of all other participants. Conclusion If emotion and factors other than hunger that are associated with eating habits that lead to obesity are not addressed, the treatment needs are never met. Thus a motivational phase including an emotional evaluation of the problem behaviour and preparation for a change in lifestyle preceding the actual change of behaviour would be valuable. This at Purdue University on July 13, 2015 hej.sagepub.com Downloaded from 245 would provide an opportunity to address emotional factors and reasons other than hunger associated with excessive eating, as well as emotional factors associated with behavioural change. Furthermore, a period of supported maintenance of achieved weight loss should be included in weight reduction programmes.

A synthesis of qualitative research on overweight and obese people's views and experiences of weight management

“…The majority of studies reported that many people felt they were unsuccessful with weight management because they lacked the will‐power (24,29,35) or knowledge and skills (24) for successful weight management, had psychological problems (18,24,27) or reverted back to old dietary habits (22,24). Another explanation for unsuccessful weight management was people eating for reasons other than hunger, such as emotional and habitual eating (24,26,31).…”

“…Lopez (19) reported that six overweight and obese women desired to make personal choices regarding their weight management behaviours. Conversely, in one study (31), participants felt the weight management programme failed to provide adequate structure to support their needs. In addition, a few studies found that some overweight and obese people indicated they relied on continued attendance at the weight management programme to successfully manage their weight (22,30,34).…”

“…For this meta-ethnography, the selected articles were read in full several times, noting the main themes, descriptions and quotes representative of each of the themes. Fourteen (18,19,(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33) of the 17 selected papers focused on people's experiences with weight management programmes, while three papers (17,34,35) explored people's experiences with weight management outside the context of weight management programmes. A grid was created to aid the 'translation' of studies into one another.…”

“…Family and friends were identified as unintentional saboteurs of weight management efforts by making unhealthy palatable foods available (24) and disrupting time that had been set aside for physical activity (19). Six studies (23,24,26,29,31,35) suggested that daily family and work routines and responsibilities competed with and hindered weight management attempts. According to these studies, overweight and obese people lacked the time to plan and engage in weight management due to family and/or work commitments, and life events.…”

Overweight and Obese Low-Income Women: Restorative Health Behaviors Under Overwhelming Conditions

“…Persons living with obesity realize they need to lose weight and often have tried many different methods to do so . Moreover, multiple factors other than hunger affect eating habits, including negative factors such as stress, worry, depression, fatigue, and the positive factors of pleasure and relaxation (Adolfsson, Carlson, Undén, & Rössner, 2002). If patient education is provided without addressing these emotionally based eating factors, then weight loss will be much more difficult to achieve (Adolfsson et al, 2002).…”