The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the characteristics of a self defined population of successful dieters who are able to maintain that weight loss. Successful dieters are defined as adult individuals who have deliberately lost at least 15% of their body weight, have kept that weight off for one or more years, and have not regained more than a total of five pounds. The research is based upon a structured open ended interview derived from the existing literature and the findings from a pilot study. Data will be collected from a volunteer sample of 100 successful dieters and a contrast group of 20 unsuccessful dieters in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Content analysis will serve as the basis for data reduction into categories of similar content, and into a structured rating form, which will then be used to quantify the interview data and conduct an intercoder reliability study. Findings will be subjected to descriptive statistics and cross tabulated with demographic data. From this exploratory phase further research will be planned. The investigators postulate that obesity and its treatment is a multidimensional phenomena; that no single causal or predictor variable can be isolated; and that what motivates successful weight loss may not be the same as what maintains weight loss.
| Brink, P J; Ferguson, K; Sharma, A (1999) Childhood memories about food: the Successful Dieters Project. J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Nurs 12:17-25 |
| Brink, P J; Ferguson, K (1998) The decision to lose weight. West J Nurs Res 20:84-102 |
| Brink, P J; Wood, M J (1993) Toward a definition of a successful dieter. Clin Nurs Res 2:345-59 |
| Ferguson, K J; Brink, P J; Wood, M et al. (1992) Characteristics of successful dieters as measured by guided interview responses and Restraint Scale scores. J Am Diet Assoc 92:1119-21 |
