NCT01240499

Effects of a Health-At-Every-Size Approach on Weight Management in Premenopausal Overweight Women

Intervention s'Inspirant du Nouveau Paradigme en matière de Gestion de Poids Chez Des Femmes préménopausées présentant un Surplus de Poids

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 144 (actual)
• Sponsor: Laval University · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 30 Years – 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of a Health-At-Every-Size (HAES) approach on global health status of premenopausal overweight women preoccupied about their weight and who have been unsuccessful in previous weight loss attempts.

Detailed description

Weight management is a critical issue in developed countries where the prevalence of obesity is increasing. Poor long-term success observed with current weight-control strategies stresses the relevance to explore new weight management approaches. One of these approaches, referred to as Health-At-Every-Size (HAES), is a new weight paradigm that focuses on a healthy lifestyle by promoting overall health benefits of behavioral changes related to dietary habits and physical activity and emphasizes self-acceptance and well-being, independently of body weight status. Studies on the effects of a HAES approach have shown significant improvements in metabolic and psychological variables. To our knowledge, no study has yet reported the short and long-term impacts of a HAES approach on a cluster of variables (psychological, morphological, metabolic, and nutritional) in women. The aim of this study is to measure the effects of a HAES approach on global health status of premenopausal overweight women preoccupied about their weight and who have been unsuccessful in previous weight loss attempts. In this parallel controlled trial, women will be randomized to one of the 3 treatment conditions: HAES group, Social support group (SS), or Control group. Measurements will be taken in the short term as well as in the long term (up to 1 year post-intervention).

Conditions

• Overweight

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Health-At-Every-Size (HAES)	1. HAES group: 14 weekly sessions. Focus on general well-being and positive ways of having a healthy and satisfying lifestyle. Supported by lectures, guided self-reflection, group discussions, as well as practical exercises, this intervention aims at enhancing awareness and knowledge about biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of body weight. 2. SS group: 14 weekly sessions. The objective is to reproduce a structural social support provided by the group itself. Each participant offers their support to each other. Each theme discussed in the HAES group is repeated in the SS group but the health professionals in charge of the group (dietitian \& psychologist) are not counselors (as in HAES group) but only facilitators. Outcome measures: For all women under study.

Timeline

• Start date: 2003-09-01
• Primary completion: 2006-09-01
• Completion: 2008-09-01
• First posted: 2010-11-15
• Last updated: 2011-10-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada