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A randomized trial was conducted to see if there could be effective alternatives to dieting for obese women. It compared a 12-week (1 h/week) education intervention, a 12-week (2 h/week) psychoeducational intervention, and a control group on self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, and restrained eating of obese women. Secondary variables of interest were social adjustment, symptoms of depression, scores on bulimia, and drive for thinness, weight, and blood pressure. Complete data were available at pre- and posttest time for 78 women. A MANCOVA indicated that the psychoeducation group improved over the control group on self-esteem, restraint, and body dissatisfaction. The education group did not differ statistically from the control group at posttest. Means of weight and blood pressure did not change. A nondieting approach can be beneficial to the emotional health of obese women without changing weight and blood pressure risk factors for other morbidity.
Donna Ciliska (Sun,) studied this question.