Healthy Body Study

Study Summary

Few obesity prevention programs have produced weight gain prevention effects that persist over long-term follow-up and those that have are extremely lengthy, averaging 52 hr in duration, making implementation difficult and costly. The 2010 US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for treating child \& adolescent obesity state that programs should have ≥ 25 hr of comprehensive treatment including dietary, physical activity and behavioral counseling, and that programs with \< 25 hr usually do not produce improvements. The implication is that, if centers cannot provide this level of service (as most cannot), it is not worth providing any kind of treatment at all. In extreme exception to this, an intensive 3-hr non-restrictive obesity prevention program involving participant-driven healthy lifestyle improvement plans designed to bring caloric intake and output into balance (Healthy Weight) has been found to significantly reduce increases in BMI and obesity onset relative to alternative interventions and assessment-only controls through 3-yr follow-up. We propose to test an extended 6-hr version of the Healthy Weight intervention in a sample of primarily low SES, minority adolescents and young adults who are overweight and report body dissatisfaction and subthreshold eating disorder symptoms, as these are prevalent risk factors for obesity. We will test the hypothesis that participants assigned to the Healthy Weight vs. control intervention will have significantly lower BMI and % body fat during follow-up. Secondary outcomes will include body dissatisfaction, depressive symptoms, and eating disorder symptoms. 300 adolescents and young adults at high risk for future weight gain by virtue of their age, BMI percentile, body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology will be randomized to Healthy Weight or weight control educational video. Participants will complete assessments of BMI, body composition, potential mediators, and other outcomes at p

Primary Outcome

Height will be measured to the nearest millimeter using a direct reading stadiometer. Weight will be assessed to the nearest 0.1 kg using a digital scale (Tanita TBF-300A) with participants wearing light clothing without shoes or coats.

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Healthy Weight
• BEHAVIORAL Controlled Intervention