A peer-reviewed, evidence-based journal that promotes clinical development and metabolic insights in total bariatric patient care for the healthcare professional
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25 News and Trends Bariatric Times • October 2016 m edication. "We're excited to share this new proven therapy with the weight-loss community, and in fact this is one of the first rigorous, randomized clinical t rials to show that an alternative treatment results in greater weight loss than the gold standard, traditional form of behavioral treatment" continued Forman. T he ABT sessions emphasized the following principles with the participants to achieve adherence to diet and exercise goals in order to lose weight. • Choose goals derived from freely- chosen personal life values, such as living a long and healthy life or being a present, active grandparent. • Recognize that weight-control behaviors will inevitably produce discomfort (such as urges to eat, hunger, cravings, feelings of deprivation and fatigue) and a r eduction of pleasure (such as choosing a walk over watching TV or choosing an apple over ice cream). • Increase awareness of how cues impact eating and activity-related decision making. In the study, 190 participants with overweight or obesity were randomly assigned to SBT alone, or ABT (which fused both behavioral skills from SBT with acceptance-based skills). Participants attended 25 treatment groups over a one-year period, which consisted of brief individual check-ins, skill presentations and a skill-building exercise. All interventionists were doctoral-level clinicians with experience delivering behavioral weight loss treatments. "These findings are a boon to clinicians, dietitians and psychologists as they add a new dimension to behavioral therapy that can potentially help improve long-term outcomes for people with obesity," said Steven Heymsfield, MD, FTOS, a spokesperson for The Obesity Society. "This study is one of the first of its kind, and offers promise of a new tool to add to the toolbox of treatments for overweight and obesity." This is the second study of ABT as part of the Mind Your Health trial, and it found an even more pronounced advantage from ABT than the first study. Forman offers several potential explanations, including the use of experienced clinicians and a revised ABT protocol that focuses on general willingness and accepting a loss in pleasure and less on coping with emotional distress, cravings and hunger. "These are exciting findings for which I congratulate the authors," said Wadden in an accompanying commentary. "Like all new findings, they need to be replicated by other researchers before ABT can be considered a reliable means of increasing weight loss with SBT," he a dded. Wadden noted that treatment comparison studies of different psychotherapies have shown that when researchers feel strongly that their therapy will work best, it can i nfluence outcomes. Future research should be conducted by therapists who did not develop ABT. Additionally, he said, "Future studies of ABT would be enriched by r eporting on changes in depression, susceptibility to food cues and motivation for change in both the ABT and SBT groups. Long-term follow-up after treatment would also b e beneficial to determine if ABT improves weight-loss maintenance compared with SBT." The study and its accompanying commentary are available in the O ctober issue of Obesity, the scientific journal of The Obesity Society (TOS). About The Obesity Society. The Obesity Society (TOS) is the leading p rofessional society dedicated to better understanding, preventing and treating obesity. Through research, education and advocacy, TOS is committed to improving the lives of t hose affected by the disease. For more information visit: www.Obesity.org. Connect with us on social media: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Find TOS disclosures here.