Underreporting in obese inpatients undergoing a psycho-nutritional rehabilitative program.

Objective: To evaluate the possible correlation between underreporting and anthropometric, psychological and socio-anagraphic characteristics in obese inpatients.

Design: Perspective longitudinal study.

Subjects: Forty-two obese inpatients enrolled to a multidisciplinary 3-week weight loss program in a psycho-nutritional rehabilitative structure located in Salice Terme, Northern Italy. They underwent anthropometric, dietary, clinical, and psycho diagnostic evaluation.

Results: Forty-two subjects were included in the study of which 29 (70 %) were females and 13 were males. Mean BMI and mean waist circumference were 42.7 ± 9.5 kg/m(2) and 125 ± 18 cm, respectively. The mean weight loss of 4.2 ± 2.2 kg in the whole sample was significantly greater in males compared to females. The waist circumference fell in equal measure in both of the sexes. Thirty patients were classified as underreporters according to Goldberg, two-thirds of which were females. In the course of the three recovery weeks, a third of the 30 subjects identified as underreporters at the beginning continued to underreport energy intake.

Conclusion: In our study, the prevalence of underreporting was equal to over 70 % of the original sample. There was no significant difference between the weight losses achieved by the underreporter and non-underreporter groups. All the underreporters initially became partly non-underreporters during treatment. Those who gave up the practice of underreporting were patients who had a more elevated BMI, who were more susceptible to binge eating behavior and who experienced a strong uneasiness both physically and psychologically. They also had a strongly impaired quality of life.