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

Objective: Young adults report high levels of body image dissatisfaction and dieting, and are vulnerable to both weight gain and disordered eating. Non-dieting approaches have demonstrated psychological and physiological benefits in women who are overweight or obese. 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.

Method: Participants included 94 University of Hawai'i students, 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.

Results: The intervention produced significant improvements in the intervention group compared to the control group on measures of dieting intention, intuitive eating, body image dissatisfaction, eating concerns, anti-fat attitudes, and knowledge about the effects of dieting and healthy eating. These effects were sustained at follow-up. There were also overall improvements over time in dietary intake and mental health-related quality of life that were not specific to condition. There were no significant effects on BMI. Feedback questions gathered at follow-up showed that participants in the intervention condition reported significantly more incorporation of what they learned from the study into their lives, and greater perceived effects on motivation and self-efficacy regarding eating healthfully and rejecting the dieting mentality.

Discussion: This study extends the research on non-dieting approaches by using a brief, dissonance-based structure, and applying the intervention to a young adult sample that included participants of normal weight. The findings here indicate that a non-dieting approach can be well-received by this population and result in improvements in eating and weight-related behaviors. Study limitations such as differential attrition by condition and reliance on self-report measures are discussed. Longer follow-up is needed to assess whether the intervention effects are sustained over time and whether additional benefits might emerge such as lowered incidence of eating disorders and greater weight stability.