Search

Your search yielded no results

  • Check if your spelling is correct.
  • Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue smurf" will match less than blue smurf.
  • Consider loosening your query with OR: blue smurf will match less than blue OR smurf.

PDF Ebook Relationship Between Weight Loss And Body Image In Obese Individuals Seeking Weight Loss Treatment

Submitted by antoq on Thu, 10/22/2009 - 02:15

The present study investigated the nature and extent of changes in body image following weight loss treatment in an obese sample and examined the role of weight loss in predicting body image improvement. Participants were 53 obese individuals (BMI > 30) recruited from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, CA, and the Weight Management Center at the St. Charles Hospital in New Orleans. Measures of psychological functioning and a figural body image rating procedure (Body Image Assessment for Obesity; BIA-O, Williamson, et al., 2000) were administered at baseline and after a 6-month follow-up (average 195 days ? 41.9 days). Body image dissatisfaction was operationally defined as the discrepancy between BIA-O current body size and ideal body size estimations. Weight loss for the total sample averaged 30.66 lbs, or a loss of 12.7% body weight. Body image significantly improved between T1 and T2, resulting from a decrease in participant’s estimations of current body size, while selections of an ideal body size remained stable. Results from a stepwise MRA revealed that a higher initial BMI, the tendency to overeat, and depression were significant predictors of initial body image discrepancy at T1 (r= .712.). At follow-up, weight loss consistently performed as the strongest predictor of body image improvement. Data suggest that weight loss brought participants’ perceptions of current body size closer in congruence with their ideal body size, thereby reducing levels of body image dissatisfaction. Several limitations of this study are discussed as well as clinical implications in relation to future directions for the assessment and treatment of body image concerns in obese individuals.

Obesity is a serious health problem worldwide. In the United States, the number of obese people (defined as BMI>30) has reached epidemic proportions, affecting approximately one-quarter of the American population. The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, and the percentage of people who are overweight has steeply risen more than 30% since 1980 (Bray, 1998). Data from the National Center for Health Statistics indicate an uneven distribution of obesity, with African-American and Mexican- American females most affected (Flegal, Carroll, & Kucfzmarski, 1998). Children and adolescents are not immune to this epidemic. Data suggest that over 20% of children are currently overweight, and 30% of these individuals become obese adults later in life. Excess weight increases the risk of serious medical consequences such as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and some forms of cancer. It has been argued that the “preponderance of evidence suggests that even mild overweight is probably associated with some increase in mortality risk" (Solomon, Willett, & Manson, 1995). In addition to the tremendous health risks, the financial cost of obesity is staggering. Obesity-related problems are estimated to cost the United States 39.3 billion dollars annually (Colditz, 1998). Given this backdrop, it is not surprising that the study of obesity has received an increasing amount of attention from local and federal policy-makers, health care professionals, and researchers.

»

Ebook Bank regulation, Business Cycle, and Market Discipline

Submitted by puput on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 03:21

The 1988 Basel Accord was seriously criticized for being insufficiently sensitive to banks’ asset risk faced by the bank, resulting in regulatory capital arbitrage. In part in response to this criticism, Basel II has been designed to much more accurately reflect banks’ risk taking in the calculation of capital requirements. However, while this may substantially reduce the ability of banks to engage in regulatory arbitrage, the high risk sensitivity may lead to large swings in minimum capital requirements along the business cycle : high capital requirements during recessions and low capital requirements during booms. If banks have difficulties in raising fresh capital during recessions and instead are forced to reduce lending, economic cycles may be exacerbated (”procyclicality”). Borio , Furfine and Lowe (2001), and Lowe (2002) find two main explanations to procyclicality. The first one is that risk-based capital requirements, as said previously induce large changes in minimum requirements, especially if the risk measurement is based on market prices. This has the potential to amplify business cycles. The second explanation is that credit risk models pay little attention to changes in the business cycle leading to the underestimation of risk during booms, and the contrary during economic downturns.

Although there is no consensus on the welfare cost generated by business cycles (see Lucas (1987)), there is a strong evidence in the literature of procyclicality in bank lending. Segoviano and Lowe (2002) exhibit large swings in required capital for Mexican banks during second half of the 1990s. Heid (2003) models a closed loop between banking sector and industry in Germany and shows evidence of procyclicality induced by Basel II regulation.

»

Ebook The Great Tree Of Healthy Eating And Seasons Haudenosaunee Food Model: Culturally Specific Approaches To Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits

Submitted by puput on Thu, 02/25/2010 - 03:14

The health status of Native Americans and Alaska Natives across the United States is dire. Chronic disease runs rampant, drastically increasing mortality and lowering quality of life. Diabetes is especially prevalent, a fact that has been noted and researched with Native American and Alaska Native communities for decades. In response to these distressing health statistics, several tribes have initiated exercise and healthy eating programs, some of which have incorporated traditional eating practices. The traditional diets of tribes before contact with Europeans were developed over centuries to best utilize the surrounding plants and wildlife while optimizing health, and they were tailored to the needs of the specific tribes.

After contact with Europeans, and later Americans, traditional diets have deteriorated because of removal from traditional land bases and hardships associated with conquest and violent conflict. Tribes were also given rations by the federal government, which were incorporated into diets out of necessity, and were neither particularly healthy or anything they were used to. Current diets in many tribes have some traditional influences, but are mostly made up of what the general U.S. population eats. In concurrence with the mindset of programs that encourage traditional food programs, a few food models (e.g., similar to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid) tailored to specific traditional Native diets have been created over the past several years.

»

Get Updates By Email:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner