Well-being, CR and health

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Hi All,

The three below papers are on well-being in CR and generally.

The first paper is now full-text to all available.

Hansen BC.

Introduction. Symposium: Calorie restriction: effects on body composition,

insulin

signaling and aging.

J Nutr. 2001 Mar;131(3):900S-902S.

PMID: 11238782

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstra\

ct & list_uids=11238782 & query_hl=31

http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/131/3/900S

The second has follows this thread.

Bradshaw A, Katzer L, Horwath CC, Gray A, O'Brien S, Joyce J, Jabs J.

A randomised trial of three non-dieting programs for overweight women.

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(Suppl):S43.

PMID: 15294512

Background - Since traditional treatments for overweight/obesity that focus on

energy restriction show poor long-term maintenance of weight loss, 'non-dieting'

approaches are increasingly advocated. Non-dieting approaches encourage the

adoption

of eating in response to physiological hunger and satiety cues, rather than

cognitive control of eating. Few randomised trials of non-dieting programs have

been

reported.

Objective - To evaluate the effects of non-dieting programs in overweight and

obese

women at high risk of coronary heart disease.

Design - 225 obese/overweight women (BMI >28; 25-65 years) with at least one

other

cardiovascular risk factor took part in a randomised trial of three different

non-dieting programs (P1, P2, P3). P1: ten weeks of weekly group intervention

focusing on training in eliciting the relaxation response and cognitive

restructuring. The other two programs (P2: ten week group intervention; P3:

mail-delivered intervention) focused on healthy eating and activity patterns.

Outcomes - Measures were obtained at baseline, 10 weeks and 4 months. For

participants in all three non-dieting programs, depression, anxiety and other

psychological distress, perceived barriers to physical activity and to reducing

dietary fat, self-reported medical symptoms, and diastolic blood pressure showed

significant reductions at 10 weeks and 4 months; while stage of readiness for

regular exercise, eating self-efficacy, dietary quality scores and

" Health-Promoting

Lifestyle Profile " scores all improved significantly (P<0.01). At four months,

44%

of all participants had lost weight, 22% had maintained weight and 34% had

gained

weight. P1 participants showed significantly greater improvements in stress

management (P<0.0001).

Conclusions - Findings suggest that non-dieting interventions can enhance

psychological wellbeing and lifestyle habits for overweight/obese women.

The third is on the more general medical aspects of well-being.

Editorial

Wellbeing: an idea whose time has come

Lancet. 2005 Oct 8;366(9495): Available online 20 October 2005.

This year's annual Lancet lecture, held in collaboration with the International

Health and Medical Education Centre at University College London, was delivered

with

profound insight last week by the Nobel Laureate, Prof Kahneman. His

subject

was progress in the study of wellbeing, an issue that has hitherto been ignored

by

most medical scientists.

Kahneman won his 2002 Nobel Prize in the economic sciences for his work on human

judgment and decision-making under uncertainty. The effect of his work has been

to

shape much of our modern thinking about human rationality. His ideas have also

had

their influence on medicine. Kahneman and others have argued, for example, that

understanding how people reason is an important and neglected clinical skill.

His

work on memories of colonoscopy was one instance of how his research into the

psychology of pain has led to practical benefits.

In recent years, Kahneman's interests have moved into areas of direct concern to

public debates surrounding contemporary health care, especially in international

health. He has been concerned with the nature of an experienced human life,

notably

the idea of wellbeing. In work published last year, he and his colleagues

described

a simple and reproducible way—the Day Reconstruction Method—to measure an

individual's state of wellbeing. His findings supported the conclusion that

“life

circumstances have surprisingly little influence on global reports of life

satisfaction”, although large variations in affective state during each day did

suggest that interventions to improve wellbeing—across time, settings, and

activities—might have a place in public-health strategies to reduce human

misery.

In his Lancet-IHMEC/UCL lecture, Kahneman explored the paradox that, despite

increasing wealth, the quantity of human happiness seems to remain stubbornly

unchanged. In our concerted efforts to achieve human development—the central

task of

which is to eliminate extreme poverty—wellbeing has been all but forgotten.

Kahneman

invited his audience to reconsider our orthodox approach to creating a healthier

society. His commitment to human being—that each one of us is not only a

physical

and moral entity but also an existing and experiencing person—was a provocative

challenge to all who profess a concern for improving human health.

Al Pater, PhD; email: old542000@...

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