Considering Weight Loss Programs and Public Health Partnerships in American Evangelical Protestant Churches

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 901-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Gibbes Miller
2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 367-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ortega ◽  
Rodríguez-Rodríguez ◽  
Aparicio ◽  
Marín-Arias ◽  
López-Sobaler

The fight against excess weight and obesity is a health priority. The aim of this study was to analyze the anthropometric changes induced by two weight control programs based on approximating the diet to the theoretical ideal (increasing the consumption of foods with the largest differences between the recommended and observed intakes: cereals and vegetables – for which a minimum of 6 and 3 servings/day are recommended, respectively). The study subjects were 57 Spanish women with a body-mass index (BMI) of 24–35 kg/m², all of whom were randomly assigned to one of two slightly hypocaloric diets for a six-week period: diet V, in which the consumption of greens and vegetables was increased, or diet C, in which the consumption of cereals was increased. Dietetic and anthropometric data were collected at the start of the study and again at two and six weeks. The dietary intervention approximated the subjects’ energy provision from proteins, fats, and carbohydrates to those recommended. The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) improved with both diets. Reductions in body weight, BMI, and the amount of body fat (kg) were also achieved with both diets. Weight loss was 1.56 ± 0.93 kg and 1.02 ± 0.55 kg at two weeks with diet C and V respectively, and 2.8 ± 1.4 kg and 2.0 ± 1.3 kg at six weeks (p < 0.05). Approximating the diet to the theoretical ideal by increasing the consumption of vegetables or cereals may therefore be of use in weight control. In terms of weight loss and the improvement of the diet quality (energy profile and HEI), diet C was significantly more effective than diet V.


Author(s):  
Bethan Evans ◽  
Charlotte Cooper

Over the last twenty years or so, fatness, pathologised as overweight and obesity, has been a core public health concern around which has grown a lucrative international weight loss industry. Referred to as a ‘time bomb’ and ‘the terror within’, analogies of ‘war’ circulate around obesity, framing fatness as enemy.2 Religious imagery and cultural and moral ideologies inform medical, popular and policy language with the ‘sins’ of ‘gluttony’ and ‘sloth’, evoked to frame fat people as immoral at worst and unknowledgeable victims at best, and understandings of fatness intersect with gender, class, age, sexuality, disability and race to make some fat bodies more problematically fat than others. As Evans and Colls argue, drawing on Michel Foucault, a combination of medical and moral knowledges produces the powerful ‘obesity truths’ through which fatness is framed as universally abject and pathological. Dominant and medicalised discourses of fatness (as obesity) leave little room for alternative understandings.


2021 ◽  
pp. 019394592110370
Author(s):  
Hannah Bessette ◽  
MinKyoung Song ◽  
Karen S. Lyons ◽  
Sydnee Stoyles ◽  
Christopher S. Lee ◽  
...  

In this study, we assessed the influences of change in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)/sedentary time (ST) of caregivers participating in a commercial weight-loss program on their children’s change in MVPA/ST. Data from 29 caregivers and their children were collected over 8 weeks. We used multivariable linear regression to assess associations of changes in caregiver’s percent of time spent in MVPA/ST and changes in their child’s percent of time spent in MVPA/ST. For caregivers that decreased body mass index (BMI) over 8 weeks, changes in caregivers’ MVPA was strongly associated with the change in children’s MVPA (β = 2.61 [95% CI: 0.45, 4.77]) compared to caregivers who maintained/increased BMI (β = 0.24 [–2.16, 2.64]). Changes in caregivers’ ST was strongly associated with changes in children’s ST (β = 2.42 [1.02, 3.81]) compared to caregivers who maintained/increased BMI (β = 0.35 [–0.45, 1.14]). Findings reinforce encouraging caregivers to enroll in weight-loss programs for the benefit of their children as well as for themselves.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135910532199970
Author(s):  
Joanne A Rathbone ◽  
Tegan Cruwys ◽  
Jolanda Jetten

This project investigated how alternative non-stigmatising public health messages influence people’s health behaviours and well-being, relative to traditional stigmatising weight-loss messages. We conducted three experimental studies (total N = 1281) that compared traditional weight-loss messages to weight-neutral messages (Study 1), weight-inclusive messages (Study 2) and size acceptance messages (Study 3). Results revealed that public health messages have differential effects on health behaviours and well-being, depending on the audience’s BMI or perceived weight. However, campaigns that challenge weight stigma and promote body positivity have positive effects on some psychological indicators of health and well-being for people of all body sizes.


Author(s):  
Walaa H. Foula ◽  
Rana H. Emara ◽  
Mona K. Eldeeb ◽  
Samiha A. Mokhtar ◽  
Fikrat A. El-Sahn

Abstract Background Obesity has emerged as a public health crisis in many populations including Egypt. Adipose tissue produces a number of adipokines, one of them is adiponectin which has attracted much attention because of its antidiabetic and antiatherogenic effects. Objective To determine the effect of a weight loss program on serum adiponectin level and insulin resistance among overweight and obese adult premenopausal females. Study design A pre-postintervention study was carried out among 95 premenopausal overweight and obese females (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2) aged 20 to 40 years at the integrated health clinic affiliated to the High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria, Egypt, from February 2016 to February 2017. All participants underwent a weight loss program based on a reduced calorie balanced diet and advised to increase their physical activity. Dietary instructions and follow-up were done weekly throughout 16 weeks. Blood samples were collected to investigate serum adiponectin level and insulin resistance at the beginning and the end of the intervention. Results After 16 weeks, a significant decrease in body weight by 9.7% was associated with a significant increase in serum adiponectin from 13.3 ± 4.9 μg/ml to 18.5 ± 5.6 μg/ml. Both fasting insulin and insulin resistance had decreased significantly by 13.6% and 13.7%, respectively. Conclusion A weight reduction program depending on a reduced calorie diet for 16 weeks was associated with a significant increase in total adiponectin level and reduction in insulin resistance. An emphasis on the importance of keeping normal weight through nutritional education and the promotion of healthy diets is recommended to reduce the risk of occurrence of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Ese ◽  
C Ihlebak

Abstract Background Public health problems often constitute so called “wicked problems”, and the importance of involving multiple stakeholders in order to address such problems is acknowledged, for instance through the SDG17 guidelines. Partnerships between academia and the public sector have been deemed especially promising. However, sustainable partnerships might be difficult due to divergent understandings and interests. Although there is a substantial research literature on academic-public partnerships in general, partnerships addressing public health specifically are less investigated. The aim of the project was therefore to identify enablers for sustainable public health partnerships between academia and the public sector. Methods A mixed methods design was used. A survey regarding partnerships was sent to 41 European, Asian and American regions, with a response rate of 72 %. Based on survey data, an interview guide was developed and four best cases (Canada, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Norway) were identified. Site visits and group interviews with representatives from stakeholders of the partnerships were conducted. Interview data and answers to open ended questions from questionnaires were analysed. Results Three main findings became apparent through the analysis. Important enablers were: 1) person-to-person fit between individuals, 2) national incentive schemes for collaboration, and 3) formal partnership agreements that provided a framework that allowed for manoeuvring. The enablers identified are on a macro, miso and micro level. Furthermore, they can be categorised as political, organisational, and social. Conclusions The data support the notion that partnerships are complex social structures that need to be initiated and managed on different levels and with different measures. At the same time, data demonstrate that across different geographical, political, and social contexts the same enablers are reappearing as important for sustaining public health partnerships. Key messages Similar enablers for sustaining public health partnerships are found across geographical, political, and social contexts. Important enablers for partnerships are person-to-person fit, national incentive schemes, and formal agreements.


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