Does Weight-Cycling Influence Illness Beliefs in Obesity? A Gender-Sensitive Approach

Nunzio Velotti,Sabine Steins-Loeber,Svenja Prill,Jörg Wolstein,Carmen Henning,Stefanie Schroeder

doi:10.1155/2021/8861386

Abstract

Obesity is classified as a chronic disease. Women and men seem to face different obstacles in their attempts to overcome one of the most challenging tasks in the treatment of this disease, namely, weight reduction maintenance. The Common-Sense-Model (CSM) is mainly used to improve the understanding of self-regulation and health behaviour in chronic diseases but has yet to be explored for obesity. This paper applies the CSM to obesity, focussing on the construct of illness representations, which is the basis of health behaviour according to the CSM. A sample of n = 356 women and n = 77 men with obesity was investigated to assess the extent that illness representations in obesity are shaped by experiences of weight-cycling and the extent that gender influences their quality. Our results show that the representations of timeline and consequences as well as the emotional representation are particularly influenced by weight-cycling, especially in men. On average, women showed more maladaptive illness representations than men. These findings not only contribute to a better applicability of the CSM in obesity, but also emphasize the importance of gender in obesity research and interventions.

Highlights

Obesity is defined as the excessive accumulation of body fat and is considered a chronic disease by the World Health Organization [WHO] [1]
We found a significant gender difference in the distribution of the obesity level (V 0.30) and in weightcycling (φ −0.26)
All hypotheses were examined in the total sample and separately for the subsamples of women and men

Summary

Introduction

Obesity is defined as the excessive accumulation of body fat and is considered a chronic disease by the World Health Organization [WHO] [1]. This individualized understanding and a subsequent active consideration of SIRs in treatment can lead to a sustainable change in behaviour, including long-term weight reduction. In such a model, the individual dietary behaviour can be understood as an illness stimulus in obesity. Crane et al [33] observed in a randomized controlled trial that women and men differ mainly in their motivation to lose weight In this respect, the findings of Crane and colleagues [33] imply that, for successful and long-term weight reduction, greater consideration of individual gender-specific beliefs and attitudes is central, supporting the plea for gender-specific designs of weight-loss programmes [8]. Women and men with obesity have different experiences concerning their illness, and seem to react to these experiences differently. ese differences apply to dietary behaviour

Method

Sense of coherence

Emotional representation