Impact of the Healthy Eating and Exercise Lifestyle Programme on depressive symptoms in overweight people with heart disease and diabetes.

Background: The Healthy Eating and Exercise Lifestyle Program (HEELP) is a secondary risk factor intervention programme for people with heart disease and/or type 2 diabetes, which has proven benefits for weight loss and exercise. This secondary analysis evaluated the effects of HEELP on achieving recommended levels of exercise and the prevalence of depressive symptoms, and whether meeting exercise recommendations had an independent effect on depressive symptoms.

Design: A randomized parallel controlled trial of patients (n = 147) with body mass index 27-39 kg/m(2) were recruited from cardiac rehabilitation and diabetes education programmes.

A randomised trial of a weight loss intervention for overweight and obese people diagnosed with coronary heart disease and/or type 2 diabetes.

Background: Weight reduction limits disease progression in obese people with coronary heart disease (CHD) and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Purpose: To test a 16-week group-based weight reduction intervention combining exercise, diet and behaviour change strategies aimed to increase self-efficacy (Healthy Eating and Exercise Lifestyle Program-HEELP) on weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and exercise.

Methods: Participants with CHD and/or T2DM and BMI between 27 to 39 kg/m(2) were randomised to HEELP (n=83) or usual care (n=65).