Identifying the mechanisms through which behavioral weight-loss treatment improves food decision-making in obesity.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs are the recommended treatment for obesity, yet it is unknown whether these programs change one's ability to use self-control in food choices and what specific mechanisms support such change. Using experimental economics methods, we investigated whether changes in dietary behavior in individuals with obesity following BWL are driven by one or more of the following potential mechanisms: changes in the perception of the 1) health or 2) taste of food items, and/or 3) shifting decision weights for health versus taste attributes. Therefore, we compared these mechanisms between obese participants and lifetime normal weight controls (NW) both before and after BWL.

Methods

Females with obesity (N = 37, mean BMI = 33.2) completed a food

SUBMITTER: Demos KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5477769 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature