"Dare to be Satisfied With Food" - a Group Treatment Method
Condition: Overweight and Obesity
MeSH terms: Overweight
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The concept "Dare to be satisfied with food" is an educational method of group treatment
      based on regular meals and food based on Nordic nutrition recommendations. The method has
      been developed by a district nurse at the city of Ljungby, Sweden and has shown permanent
      weight loss in a limited number of persons who tested the method. It is important to test the
      method scientifically and in the long term for possible implementation in routine activities
      in the healthcare sector. Adults with overweight and obesity (BMI 27-45) will be recruited to
      the study by announcing in newspapers in the counties of Kronoberg and Kalmar and then
      randomized to intervention group and control group, where the control group receives dietary
      advice according to the Swedish National Food Agency's guidelines for overweight and obesity
      (including brochures).
    

Detailed description: 
      The incidence of obesity among adults in Sweden has more than doubled since the 1980s, and
      the trend seems to continue according to figures from the Public Health Authority (2013),
      which showed that of the adult population 35% were overweight and 15% obese. Obesity raises
      the risk of severe diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
      Arthritis, gallstones and childlessness are also common in obese people. In the field of
      health care, the views differ as to which dietary advice is best for obese people. Swedish
      Agency For Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services (SBU, 2013) review
      of the overall research shows that several types of dietary advice can lead to weight loss.
      In the long term, councils were equivalent to weight loss, while in the short term a
      difference between costs was different. As for beverages, a slight intake of sweet drinks
      showed a weight loss. For some people low blood sugar can lead to uncontrolled eating and
      were the gateway to improper eating habits.

      The aim is to study the effect of the "Dare to be satisfied with food concept" for weight
      loss with five years follow-up compared to now recommended short counseling according to the
      Swedish National Food Agency's recommendations.

      Participants in the project will be recruited through advertising I newspapers in the
      counties of Kronoberg and Kalmar. Anyone who meets the criteria and wishes to attend a
      telephone interview will receive an information letter together with an informed consent form
      to return. Thereafter, the persons are randomized to the intervention or control group in
      blocks of 20. The intervention group is offered 10 meetings in groups of 6-8 participants
      over 6 months. Group meeting 5 includes a short individual consultation. In addition,
      individual consultation and sampling after group meeting 1 and 10. The control group is
      offered dietary advise according to the Swedish Food Authority's guidelines for overweight
      and obesity (including brochures) on an individual occasion including blood samples at the
      start and after 6 months. At the first visit, a survey is conducted on questions about
      background factors, living habits, quality of life, health and disease. Sampling includes
      length, weight, waist and seat measurements, blood pressure, heart rate, blood samples (blood
      value, blood lipids, metabolism, long-term sugar, electrolytes and liver and kidney
      function.Then follow-up once yearly for five years for both groups with surveys and sampling
      in the same way.

      Power calculation: At alpha 0.05 and beta 0.2 (power 0.8) 65 people must be randomized in
      each group to find a weight difference of at least 5 kg. Considering a drop out of about 1/3,
      100 people need to be randomized to each group.

      Statistical analysis will be done according to intention to treat with major outcome weight
      loss.
    

Intervention name(s): Educational method of group treatment
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Other intervention name(s): Dietary advice
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Dieting; learning to eat; group treatment