Testing a Brief Mindful Eating Program

NCT ID: NCT04531436

Last Updated: 2020-08-28

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 68 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-09-01
• Study Completion Date: 2018-09-01

Brief Summary

This project evaluated the effects of a brief manualized mindful eating intervention as a treatment for overeating with individuals with overweight and obesity.

Detailed Description

Overeating leads to overweight and obesity. Effective eating regulation largely depends on an individual's responsiveness to internal cues of physiological hunger and satiety; this phenomenon is known as interoceptive awareness and has been shown to be lower in individuals with overweight or obesity. Mindfulness training may improve interoceptive awareness and thus may facilitate more effective regulation of eating through increased sensitivity to cues of hunger and fullness. Mindful eating programs have been shown to increase interoceptive awareness of hunger and satiety cues and decrease weight in individuals with obesity. Although these programs are effective, they involve lengthy group sessions, require extensively trained staff, and are not widely available outside of clinical research. Thus, the reach and impact of these programs are limited.

The present study developed and tested a brief mindful eating intervention inspired by Kristeller & Wolever's (2010) Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training program to increase interoceptive awareness in individuals with overweight and obesity as a means to increase mindful and intuitive eating, reduce overeating and facilitate weight loss. The program consisted of 9 weekly 10-15 minute sessions structured around one simple evidence-based mindful eating exercise, and was delivered to adult (ages 18-67) employees from a Canadian university.

Conditions

Overeating; Overweight; Obesity

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Intervention

Brief mindful eating intervention

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Brief mindful eating intervention

Intervention Type: OTHER

Over the 9-week intervention, participants will be introduced to various mindful eating and intuitive eating practices which are aimed at reducing overeating and facilitating weight loss. Each session will focus on one simple, evidence-based message, aimed at modifying a current weight-relevant eating behavior of the patient. The intervention will focus on two key elements: (1) the mindful awareness of body cues (intuitive eating) and (2) the mindful awareness of external cues (mindful eating).

Interventions

Brief mindful eating intervention

Over the 9-week intervention, participants will be introduced to various mindful eating and intuitive eating practices which are aimed at reducing overeating and facilitating weight loss. Each session will focus on one simple, evidence-based message, aimed at modifying a current weight-relevant eating behavior of the patient. The intervention will focus on two key elements: (1) the mindful awareness of body cues (intuitive eating) and (2) the mindful awareness of external cues (mindful eating).

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• BMI of 25 to 45 kg/m2 (overweight/obese)
• Willingness to commit to program and complete various assessment measures

Exclusion Criteria

• Having been pregnant in the past six months or planning on becoming pregnant in the next year
• Undergoing treatment for cancer
• Using medications that affect body weight or appetite
• Being diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, major depressive disorder, or another severe psychiatric disease (including dementia)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 67 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

McGill University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Barbel Knauper

James McGill Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Bärbel Knauper, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

McGill University

Locations

McGill University

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Countries

Canada

Other Identifiers

46-0617

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id