Health-related quality of life changes and weight reduction after bariatric surgery vs. a weight-loss program.

BACKGROUND: The present study compared the outcome of bariatric surgery against a uniform high-level weightloss program which included vigorous physical exercises, behavior modification and nutritional advice. METHOD: 44 subjects who underwent bariatric surgery and 47 subjects participating in a weight-loss program completed the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form- 36 (SF-36), the Mental Health Inventory (MHI) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale, prior to surgery/diet and one year afterwards. RESULTS: Post-surgery subjects had a greater mean weight loss (34.70% ± 11.94) than subjects in the weight-loss program, even though their weight reduction was also clinically significant (9.23% ± 8.31). Post-surgery subjects showed significant improvements in SF-36, MHI, and selfesteem. The diet group improved in SF-36 total score, physical functioning, health perceptions, and vitality scales. LIMITATIONS: Differences in background variables and short follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery outcomes were significantly better in terms of both weight reduction and psychological adjustment compared to highly motivated participants in a prestigious, cutting edge weight-loss program.

Psychosocial predictors of weight loss and psychological adjustment following bariatric surgery and a weight-loss program: the mediating role of emotional eating.

OBJECTIVE: To examine a structural equation model of the effects of personal and interpersonal factors on treatment outcome of bariatric surgery and weight-loss program. METHOD: Forty-four participants of the surgery group and 47 participants of the diet group completed questionnaires before treatment and 1 year afterward. Predictor measures are as follows: social support, motivation for control, sense of control, self-esteem, neuroticism, fear of intimacy, and emotional eating (EE). OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight loss, quality of life, and mental health. RESULTS: Neurotic predisposition (NP), a latent variable indicated by neuroticism, low self-esteem, and fear of intimacy, had an effect on weight loss that was fully mediated by EE. NP also had an effect on quality of life improvement that was fully mediated by EE and weight loss in both treatment groups. DISCUSSION: Both NP and EE predict outcome of obesity treatments, but EE is the more proximal variable that mediates the effect of NP.

Surgery and parental separation as potential risk factors for abnormal eating attitudes-longitudinal study.

Due to the susceptibility of eating disorders (ED) to stressful life events, we wanted to examine longitudinally whether two childhood adversities: (1) surgery and (2) parental separation, will affect abnormal eating attitudes in adolescents. Consecutively for 4 years, the eating attitude test (EAT-26) and the eating disorder inventory-2 (EDI-2) questionnaires were administered to students from grades 7th through 10th and 8th through 11th. Multilevel analysis revealed that parental separation and oral or cosmetic dermatologic surgeries were significantly correlated with EAT-26 and EDI-2 scores throughout the 4 years of the study. Post-hoc interpretation suggests a connection between (A) chirurgic intervention in the oral cavity and problematic eating attitudes, and (B) cosmetic dermatologic surgery and greater awareness to body appearance-a feature which might characterize adolescents who are prone to develop ED.

Lack of long-lasting consequences of starvation on eating pathology in Jewish Holocaust survivors of Nazi concentration camps.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether Holocaust survivors will show the same eating pathologies that were found in other participants who had also undergone starvation. Fifty-five Holocaust survivors and 43 matched control participants answered a questionnaire designed to explore eating problems and pathologies described in the literature as lasting for decades after a period of severe food restriction. Confirmation of the survivors' reports was obtained from their children. No significant differences in current eating habits were found between the Holocaust survivors and their matched controls. Prolonged starvation in Holocaust survivors did not lead to disordered eating habits in the sample. These results conflict with the notion that severe starvation consistently leads to food preoccupation and disordered eating.