Critique Paper

A number of researchers state that dieting may cause overeating and many other adverse behavioral aftereffects. In this regard, additional researches should be conducted concerning whether dieting may lead to overeating and behavioral disturbance in patients. For this purpose the article Dieting and the Development of Eating Disorders in Obese Women: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial (2004) was taken as the basis.

The Design

Overall, three kinds of diet were randomly prescribed to 123 women suffering from obesity. The first group had to follow a 1000 kcal/d diet, which made four servings/d, including a liquid meal replacement (MR). The second group was assigned a balanced deficit diet (BDD) allowing consumption of 1200–1500 kcal/d. These women were allowed to consume conventional foods. The last group of patients obtained a non-dieting (ND) treatment without any energy restrictions. Every week, all patients attended group sessions during 20 weeks. Further, they attended bi-weekly sessions starting from week 20 to week 40 (Wadden, Foster, & Sarwer, et al., 2004).

Purpose

The purpose of the article is to examine the issue of possible interrelation between dieting and binge eating as well as various mood swings in persons who did not have these complications before treatment (Wadden, Foster, & Sarwer, et al., 2004).

Sample Population

The researchers selected participants for this research from applicants, which acceded to advertisements placed in the local newspapers. The given advertisements provided a clear weight management program. For this research, scientists preferred to choose women since they are usually more likely to diet and have eating disorders in comparison to men. As a result, researchers selected 123 women with weight of 97.3 ± 13.0 kg, mean age of 44.2 ± 10.0 years, body mass index (BMI) of 35.9 ± 4.5, and height of 164.3 ± 6.4 cm. Among the selected participants, there were 79 European Americans, 43 African Americans, and 1 Hispanic American. However, the scientists excluded from the research those categories of patients, which suffer from the following health complications: types 1 or 2 diabetes; the use of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs); the intake of anorectic agents in the foregoing 6 months and weight loss ≥5 kg; uncontrolled hypertension, which makes more than 140/90 mm Hg; pregnancy or lactation;  the use of medications affecting body weight, for example, steroids; and a history of liver, cerebrovascular, kidney, or cardiovascular diseases. Besides, participants with overeating, major depression, and other psychiatric complications, which substantially affected their daily function, were avoided (Wadden, Foster, & Sarwer, et al., 2004).

Instrument

Applied methods and instruments are corresponding to those, which are relevant to the researches in the nutrition field. For this study, researchers used the following instruments: rating scales, tally sheets, performance checklists, statistical analysis, and observation forms (Wadden, Foster, & Sarwer, et al., 2004).

Methodology

After the completion of telephone screening, participants were invited for a 1-hour interview with a psychologist. The psychologist described the idea and basic requirements of the research and then received an informed consent from the participants. Respondents were tested via the Questionnaire on Weight and Eating Patterns and Beck Depression Inventory, the first of which evaluated binge eating. As a result, women with obvious symptoms of depression were excluded from the study. After that, the women who remained and were interested in participating met with their primary care physicians. Physicians conducted a history and performed a physical examination of all remained respondents in order to make sure that they had no abovementioned physical complications (Wadden,  Foster, & Sarwer, et al., 2004).

As it was mentioned above, all women were divided into three groups following different types of diet. However, they had some similarities: during the first 20 weeks, all patients visited weekly group treatment sessions. During weeks 22-40, they attended every-other week sessions obligatorily. A clinical psychologist led group sessions, which included from 7 to 10 participants and lasted 90 minutes. Within each of the 3 treatment groups, a registered dietitian co-led six group sessions. After week 40, women visited the follow-up group sessions only at weeks 52 and 65 (Wadden, Foster, & Sarwer, et al., 2004).

Results

The results of the research reflected in this article summarize the issue of influence and results of dieting and eating disorders treatment in obese women. The results concerning the adverse effect of diet on persons with excess weight or on the patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa were in certain cases incorrectly generalized and associated with obesity and overweight of those people who seek to become thin by means of restriction of caloric content of their food. The results of research specifically concern the excess weight and obesity in adults who seek to become thin following the appropriate program of food consumption, physical activity, and behavioral therapy set in accordance to the recommendations of experts of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Moreover, the results of the study show that fears concerning possible negative consequences of a diet should not dissuade people with excess weight from attempts to lose it. The recent results provided by the Diabetes Prevention Program showed that advantages for health, which result from correct loss of weight and increase in physical activity, are convincing (Wadden, Foster, & Sarwer, et al., 2004).

Conclusions

Actual conclusions represent that good-quality consequences of a diet among obese people should not be misinterpreted as refusal of potential danger of an aggressive effort to lose weight among teenage girls and young women. Besides, researchers concluded that in order to obtain more precise data, additional studies are required. Namely, scientists should examine and evaluate the impact of dieting in patients (including men), who suffered from binge eating, personality disorders, depression, self-injurious behavior or substance abuse before the treatment (Wadden, Foster, & Sarwer, et al., 2004).

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