Background: Both eating disorder (ED) prevention and weight management interventions often focus on the thin ideal. Yet, many Black and Latina women do not view thinness as their body ideal. This study used focus groups to investigate the influence of race, ethnicity, and culture on appearance ideals and inform the cultural adaptation and integration of two established programs addressing EDs and weight management: the Body Project, and Healthy Weight Interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPartial hospitalization programming (PHP) is a treatment option available for individuals with eating disorders (ED) who have made insufficient progress in outpatient settings or are behaviorally or medically unstable. Research demonstrates that this level of care yields efficacy for the majority of patients. However, not all patients achieve recovery in PHP and later admit to a higher level of care (HLOC) including residential treatment or inpatient hospitalization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The current study adapted evidence-based prevention programs to promote positive health behaviors among racially and ethnically diverse young adult women. Two successful programs (The Body Project and the Healthy Weight Intervention) were integrated to evaluate their feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy in reducing risk for both eating pathology and weight gain. Intervention features extended the previous prevention efforts by emphasizing broad appearance ideals to enhance relevancy for women of color and incorporating distress tolerance and emotion regulation skills training.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWeight suppression (WS), the difference in one's highest and current adult weight excluding pregnancy, is associated with eating disorder (ED) symptom onset and maintenance. There is increasing evidence that WS is related to ED symptoms in non-clinical samples, but there are no known studies examining the interaction of WS and current body mass index (BMI) in this group. History of overweight is common in those with EDs, and higher weight status often delays identification and treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWeight suppression (WS), the difference in one's highest weight (excluding pregnancy) and current weight at current height, is associated with the onset of eating disorders. Previous research has explored the influence of WS in predominantly clinical, female samples. However, the transition to college is a particularly high-risk time for weight gain and the development of eating pathology and men with eating disorders often have higher premorbid weights.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic health campaigns are often used to prevent or reduce obesity. However, social psychological theory suggests these efforts might not be universally helpful and could potentially have detrimental consequences. This investigation explored the effects of obesity prevention campaigns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Behav Policy Rev
May 2017
Objectives: This study assessed fruit and vegetable (F&V) waste during school meals in two public elementary schools, and investigated the impact of a tasting intervention implemented in one of these schools.
Methods: F&V waste was evaluated before (baseline), immediately after (post-testing), and six weeks following (follow-up), the tasting intervention.
Results: The modal outcome at each assessment was that children ate all of the served F&Vs.
Objective: A pattern of disordered eating involving a pathological fixation with healthy food consumption, labeled orthorexia nervosa (ON), has recently generated attention; however, research has not yet investigated perceptions of ON-related behaviors. This study examined potential stigmatization of ON, compared with DSM-5 ED diagnoses.
Method: Participants (N = 505) were randomly assigned to read a vignette depicting a woman with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge-eating disorder (BED), or ON.
The use of online calorie tracking applications and activity monitors is increasing exponentially. Anecdotal reports document the potential for these trackers to trigger, maintain, or exacerbate eating disorder symptomatology. Yet, research has not examined the relation between use of these devices and eating disorder-related attitudes and behaviors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTweens (children ages ~8-14years) are a relatively recently defined age group, increasingly targeted by marketers. Individuals in this age group are particularly vulnerable to opinions and behaviors presented in media messages, given their level of cognitive and social development. However, little research has examined messages about appearance, food, weight, and exercise in television specifically targeting tweens, despite the popularity of this media type among this age group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFitspiration is a relatively new social media trend nominally intended to promote health and fitness. Fitspiration messages are presented as encouraging; however, they might also engender body dissatisfaction and compulsive exercise. This study analyzed fitspiration content (n = 1050) on the image-based social media platform Pinterest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined the connections between heterosexism, mental health, body appreciation and community consciousness in sexual minority men (SMM). Participants (n = 89) completed a national online survey. Simultaneous multiple regressions found that heterosexism explained 9.
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