Research Project List
| Project Detail |
|---|
| Title: Maintenance-Tailored Obesity Treatment (LIFE) |
| SSW Investigator(s): Rona L. Levy, PI. Shelby Langer, Co-PI. Sheri Ballard. |
| Non-SSW Investigator(s): Principal Investigator: Robert Jeffery Andrew Flood, University of Minnesota |
| Description: Recent dramatic increases in prevalence have made obesity the number one nutritional problem in the United States. Of particular concern is the fact that, although available treatments are effective in producing clinically significant weight loss, their ability to sustain weight loss long-term is poor. The present research is based on a conceptual analysis of this problem that argues for greater attention to two issues related to the temporal dynamics of long-term weight control. These are: 1) the environment is continually changing and is not supportive of weight control, and 2) the intervention methods that are effective in inducing short-term changes in behaviors and weight often lose their potency over time because of habituation. A 30-month randomized trial will evaluate a maintenance-tailored treatment for obesity, designed to address these factors. At the primary site (University of Minnesota), obese men and women will be randomized to either standard behavior therapy or maintenance-tailored treatment (MTT) for 18 months, followed by 12 months of no-treatment follow-up. The MTT treatment differs from standard behavior therapy because 1) it deliberately changes treatment approaches over time instead of keeping them fixed, and 2) it focuses on adaptation to change as the core treatment objective. The primary hypothesis to be tested is that MTT will produce larger mean weight losses at 30-month follow-up than standard behavior therapy. Moreover, it is predicted that the better long-term success of the MTT group will be due primarily to better weight-loss success beyond 6 months, the point at which most people begin to regain weight with standard therapy. |
| Funding Sources: NIH/NIDDK |
| Start/End Dates: August 2004 through August 2009 |
