Effects of intragastric balloon on obesity in obese Korean women for 6 months post removal.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of morbid obesity in Korean women has consistently been increasing, while the overall prevalence rate of obesity in Korean women seems to be stable. In addition to bariatric surgery, intragastric balloons (IGBs), as a nonsurgical therapy, have been reported to be effective in weight loss. However, the beneficial effects of IGB in Korean women with obesity have not been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in fat mass in Korean women with obesity who had undergone IGB treatment for 6 mon. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Seventy-four women with obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 25.0 kg/m2) were recruited. Clinical data, including general information, comorbidities with obesity, anthropometric data, and changes in the body fat composition before and after IGB treatment, were obtained from the subjects. RESULTS: Most subjects had one or more comorbidities, such as osteoarthropathy and woman's disease, and had poor eating behaviors, including irregular mealtimes, eating quickly, and frequent overeating. Body composition measurements showed that weight, fat mass, and waist-hip circumference ratio decreased significantly at 6 mon after IGB treatment. In particular, women with morbid obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) showed 33% excess weight loss. There was no significant difference in skeletal muscle mass and mineral contents after IGB treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that 6 mon of IGB treatment can be a beneficial treatment for obesity without muscle mass and bone mineral loss.

Mental contrasting and goal commitment: the mediating role of energization.

Mentally contrasting a desired future with present reality is a self-regulation strategy that leads to goal commitment in line with a person's expectations of success. One possible mediator variable of these effects is level of energization. In Study 1, energization assessed by physiological measures was found to mediate the effect of mental contrasting on goal commitment. In Study 2, feelings of energization, as assessed by self-report, mediated the effect of mental contrasting on goal commitment as gauged by performance on an acute stress paradigm (giving a talk in front of a camera). Results imply that when expectations of success are high, mental contrasting provides the level of energy needed to commit to realizing desired futures.