Cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of obesity in women

Objective: Diet, exercise and behavior therapy are recommended for the treatment of obesity, which is an important health problem because of being associated with several adverse health conditions. Some authors argue that cognitive change will improve long-term results of those programs. Our aim is to investigate the effects of cognitive behavioral group therapy on weight loss and psychopathology.

Methods: Patients who attended the Nutrition and Diet Outpatient Clinic of Hitit University Education and Research Hospital suffering from obesity were included in the study. 11 patients participated in the therapy group and 7 participated as control group voluntarily. The participants completed the sociodemographic data form which was designed by clinicians, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI-I, STAI-II). The treatment program consisted of routine diet and exercise programs for all participants and 14 group sessions of 90 minutes weekly for the therapy group.

Results: The control and therapy groups were found similar regarding age (p=0.069), education (p=0.266) and marital status (p=0.125). There was no statistically significant difference in initial body weight (BW) (p=0.290), body mass index (BMI) (p=0.421), BDI (p=0.131), STAI-I (p=0.919) and STAI-II (p=0.070) between the two groups. In the therapy group, a statistically significant difference was found between the initial and final BW (p=0.003), BMI (p=0.003), BDI (p=0.41), STAI-II (p=0.007). Only STAI-I (p=0.754) was not found statistically significant. In the control group we did not find any statistically significant difference in the initial and final BW (p=0.917), BMI (p=0.917), BDI (p=0.344), STAI-I (p=0.465), STAI-II (p=0.528).

Conclusion: Cognitive behavioral therapy was found effective for weight loss and decrease in some psychiatric symptoms. These findings support the results of similar studies. Long-term follow-up studies with more participants identifying this issue may help showing the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on weight lost in obese people.