Brief non-dieting intervention increases intuitive eating and reduces dieting intention, body image dissatisfaction, and anti-fat attitudes: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

This study developed and examined a brief dissonance-based non-dieting intervention designed to help college women reject unhealthy dieting behaviors, accept their bodies, and increase healthy eating. Participants included 94 female university students (mean age = 20.6 years; mean BMI = 23.8 kg/m²), randomly assigned either to the non-dieting intervention condition or a brochure control condition. The intervention consisted of two 90-120 min interactive group sessions designed to engender the rejection of dieting, increase body acceptance, and develop healthy eating skills. Assessment measures were collected at baseline, post-treatment, and one-month follow-up. The group sessions produced significant improvements in the intervention group compared to the control group on measures of dieting intention, intuitive eating, body image dissatisfaction, eating concerns, and anti-fat attitudes. These effects were sustained at one-month follow-up. There were also overall improvements over time in dietary intake and mental health-related quality of life across conditions. This study extends the research on non-dieting approaches by using a brief, dissonance-based structure and by applying the intervention to a young adult sample that included participants of normal weight. The findings here indicate that a non-dieting approach is acceptable and feasible, and can result in improvements in eating and weight-related behaviors, in young adult women.

Keywords: Anti-Fat attitudes; Body image; Eating behavior; Eating concern; Intuitive eating; Non-dieting.