Rachel P. Kolko

Psychological Treatments for Eating Disorders

Purpose of review This review summarizes recent evidence on psychological treatments for eating disorders. Recent findings Eating disorders are serious psychiatric conditions requiring evidence-based intervention. Treatments have been evaluated within each eating disorder diagnosis and across diagnoses. For adults with anorexia nervosa, no one specialist treatment has been shown to be superior. Cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy remain the most established treatments for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, with stepped-care approaches showing promise and new behavioral treatments under study. Enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy has improved symptoms in adults and youth. Maudsley family-based therapy is the most established treatment for youth with anorexia nervosa and may be efficacious for youth with bulimia nervosa. Interpersonal psychotherapy for the prevention of excess weight gain may be efficacious for reducing loss of control eating and weight gain in overweight youth. Summary Significant advances in treatments have been made, including evaluation of long-term outcomes, novel approaches, and tailored extension for specific patient profiles. However, widespread access to effective eating disorder treatments remains limited. Increasing the potency and expanding the implementation of psychological treatments beyond research settings into clinical practice has strong potential to increase access to care, thereby reducing the burden of eating disorders.

Counseling and Behavior Change in Pediatric Obesity

To effectively intervene with the overweight and obese youth, it is imperative that primary care providers and behavioral interventionists work in concert to help families implement healthy behaviors across socioenvironmental domains. In this article, the authors review current office-based counseling practices and provide evidence-based recommendations for addressing weight status and strategies for encouraging behavior change with children and families, primarily by increasing social support. By providing such collaborative targeted efforts, consistent health messages and support are delivered across childrens everyday contexts, thereby helping the youth to achieve successful implementation of eating and activity behaviors and sustainable weight loss outcomes.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Weight Management and Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents

Eating disorders and obesity in children and adolescents involve harmful behavior and attitude patterns that infiltrate daily functioning. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is well suited to treating these conditions, given the emphasis on breaking negative behavior cycles. This article reviews the current empirically supported treatments and the considerations for youth with weight control issues. New therapeutic modalities (ie, enhanced CBT and the socioecologic model) are discussed. Rationale is provided for extending therapy beyond the individual treatment milieu to include the family, peer network, and community domains to promote behavior change, minimize relapse, and support healthy long-term behavior maintenance.

Reduction in Food Away from Home Is Associated with Improved Child Relative Weight and Body Composition Outcomes and This Relation Is Mediated by Changes in Diet Quality

BACKGROUND Reducing consumption of food away from home is often targeted during pediatric obesity treatment, given the associations with weight status and gain. However, the effects of this dietary change on weight loss are unknown. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to evaluate associations between changes in dietary factors and child anthropometric outcomes after treatment. It is hypothesized that reduced consumption of food away from home will be associated with improved dietary intake and greater reductions in anthropometric outcomes (standardized body mass index [BMI] and percent body fat), and the relationship between food away from home and anthropometric outcomes will be mediated by improved child dietary intake. DESIGN We conducted a longitudinal evaluation of associations between dietary changes and child anthropometric outcomes. Child diet (three 24-hour recalls) and anthropometric data were collected at baseline and 16 weeks. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING Participants were 170 overweight and obese children ages 7 to 11 years who completed a 16-week family-based behavioral weight-loss treatment as part of a larger multi-site randomized controlled trial conducted in two cohorts between 2010 and 2011 (clinical research trial). INTERVENTION Dietary treatment targets during family-based behavioral weight-loss treatment included improving diet quality and reducing food away from home. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The main outcome measures in this study were child relative weight (standardized BMI) and body composition (percent body fat). STATISTICAL ANALYSES We performed t tests and bootstrapped single-mediation analyses adjusting for relevant covariates. RESULTS As hypothesized, decreased food away from home was associated with improved diet quality and greater reductions in standardized BMI (P<0.05) and percent body fat (P<0.01). Associations between food away from home and anthropometric outcomes were mediated by changes in diet quality. Specifically, change in total energy intake and added sugars mediated the association between change in food away from home and standardized BMI, and change in overall diet quality, fiber, added sugars, and added fats mediated the association between change in food away from home and percent body fat. Including physical activity as a covariate did not significantly impact these findings. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that reducing food away from home can be an important behavioral target for affecting positive changes in both diet quality and anthropometric outcomes during treatment.

Modifications in parent feeding practices and child diet during family-based behavioral treatment improve child zBMI.

To examine associations between modifications in parent feeding practices, child diet, and child weight status after treatment and to evaluate dietary mediators.

Universal prevention efforts should address eating disorder pathology across the weight spectrum: Implications for screening and intervention on college campuses.

PURPOSE Given shared risk and maintaining factors between eating disorders and obesity, it may be important to include both eating disorder intervention and healthy weight management within a universal eating disorder care delivery program. This study evaluated differential eating disorder screening responses by initial weight status among university students, to assess eating disorder risk and pathology among individuals with overweight/obesity versus normal weight or underweight. METHODS 1529 individuals were screened and analyzed. Screening was conducted via pilot implementation of the Internet-based Healthy Body Image program on two university campuses. RESULTS Fifteen percent of the sample had overweight/obesity. Over half (58%) of individuals with overweight/obesity screened as high risk for an eating disorder or warranting clinical referral, and 58% of individuals with overweight/obesity endorsed a ≥10-pound weight change over the past year. Compared to individuals with normal weight or underweight, individuals with overweight/obesity were more likely to identify as Black, endorse objective binge eating and fasting, endorse that eating disorder-related concerns impaired their relationships/social life and made them feel badly, and endorse higher weight/shape concerns. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest rates of eating disorder pathology and clinical impairment are highest among students with overweight/obesity, and targeted intervention across weight categories and diverse races/ethnicities is warranted within universal eating disorder intervention efforts. Integrating eating disorder intervention and healthy weight management into universal prevention programs could reduce the incidence and prevalence of eating disorders, unhealthy weight control practices, and obesity among university students.

Decreasing food fussiness in children with obesity leads to greater weight loss in family-based treatment

Food fussiness (FF), or the frequent rejection of both familiar and unfamiliar foods, is common among children and, given its link to poor diet quality, may contribute to the onset and/or maintenance of childhood obesity. This study examined child FF in association with anthropometric variables and diet in children with overweight/obesity participating in family‐based behavioral weight loss treatment (FBT). Change in FF was assessed in relation to FBT outcome, including whether change in diet quality mediated the relation between change in FF and change in child weight.

Loss of control over eating before and during early pregnancy among community women with overweight and obesity

OBJECTIVE This study examined the prevalence of and changes in loss of control over eating (LOC) among pregnant women with overweight/obesity, along with associations between LOC and depressive symptoms and stress. METHOD Community women (N = 200; body mass index ≥ 25; 12-20 weeks gestation) reported LOC before and during early pregnancy using the Eating Disorder Examination, which was adapted for administration in pregnancy. Women self-reported depressive symptoms and stress during early pregnancy. RESULTS Twenty-eight percent (n = 56) of women reported LOC before or during early pregnancy: 14.5% (n = 29) reported LOC incidence during early pregnancy, 9.5% (n = 19) reported LOC persistence from prepregnancy to early pregnancy, and 4.0% (n = 8) reported LOC prepregnancy only. Women with LOC reported more depressive symptoms and stress than did those without. Women with LOC persistence reported clinically significant depressive symptoms and elevated stress. Levels of depressive symptoms and stress differed between women with LOC persistence and those without LOC (ps < 0.05). DISCUSSION LOC during pregnancy was prevalent and associated with distress, particularly when present before and during pregnancy. Among women with LOC, few reported remission, but one-half reported onset during early pregnancy. Longitudinal studies are needed among mothers with overweight/obesity to identify patterns of LOC throughout pregnancy and how LOC affects perinatal outcomes.

Patterns of Eating Disorder Pathology are Associated with Weight Change in Family-Based Behavioral Obesity Treatment

Children with overweight or obesity have elevated eating disorder (ED) pathology, which may increase their risk for clinical EDs. The current study identified patterns of ED pathology in children with overweight or obesity entering family‐based behavioral weight loss treatment (FBT) and examined whether children with distinct patterns differed in their ED pathology and BMI z score (zBMI) change across FBT.

Dose, Content, and Mediators of Family-Based Treatment for Childhood Obesity: A Multisite Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance Elucidation of optimal dosing and treatment content is critical for health care providers, payers, and policy makers, as well as mechanisms of change to inform intervention delivery and training initiatives for childhood obesity. Objectives To evaluate effects, following a 4-month family-based behavioral weight loss treatment (FBT), of 2 doses (HIGH or LOW) of a weight-control intervention (enhanced social facilitation maintenance [SFM+]) vs a weight-control education condition (CONTROL; matched for dose with LOW), on child anthropometrics, and to explore putative mediators of weight loss outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants For this parallel-group randomized clinical trial conducted at 2 US academic medical centers from December 2009 to March 2013, 172 parent-child dyads completed FBT and were then randomized to 8 months of SFM+ (HIGH, n = 59; LOW, n = 56) or CONTROL (n = 57). Children (aged 7-11 years) with overweight and obesity (body mass index [BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared] ≥85th percentile) with at least 1 parent with overweight and obesity (BMI ≥25) were recruited. Interventions HIGH SFM+ vs LOW SFM+ (CONTROL matched the dose of LOW). Main Outcomes and Measures Intention-to-treat analysis using mixed-effects models estimated change in child percentage overweight (percentage above the median BMI for a childs age and sex) for the FBT period (0-4 months) and the SFM+ period (4-12 months), and proportion of children achieving a clinically significant change in percentage overweight (≥9-unit decrease; months 0-12). Theory-based outcome mediators were also evaluated. Results This study recruited 172 parent-child dyads (mean [SD] age: parents 42.3 [6.4] years; children, 9.4 [1.3] years). The omnibus treatment × time interaction for child percentage overweight was significant (F8, 618.9 = 2.89; P = .004). Planned pairwise comparisons revealed that from months 4 to 12, LOW had better outcomes than CONTROL (difference, −3.34; 95% CI, −6.21 to −0.47; d = −0.40; P = .02). HIGH had better outcomes than LOW (difference, −3.37; 95% CI, −6.15 to −0.59; d = −0.38; P = .02) and CONTROL (difference, −6.71; 95% CI, −9.57 to −3.84; d = −0.77; P < .001). A greater proportion of children in HIGH (45 [82%]) vs LOW (34 [64%]) (difference, 18.00; 95% CI, 1.00-34.00; P = .03; number needed to treat = 5.56) and CONTROL (25 [48%]) (difference, 34.00; 95% CI, 16.00-51.00; P < .001; number needed to treat = 2.94) had clinically significant percentage overweight reductions. Food and activity monitoring and goal setting mediated the effect of LOW vs CONTROL (50%). Monitoring and goal setting, family and home environment, and healthy behaviors with peers mediated the effect of HIGH vs CONTROL (25%-42%). Conclusions and Relevance Following FBT, specialized intervention content (SFM+) enhanced children’s weight outcomes and outperformed a credible control condition, with high dose delivery yielding the best outcomes. Sustained monitoring and goal setting, support from the family and home environment, and healthy peer interactions explained outcome differences, highlighting key treatment targets. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00759746