Abstract
In recent years the prevalence of obesity in developed countries has increased to the point that some authorities have coined the term “obesity epidemics.” Combining energy intake control measures (via diet) with protocols for increasing energy expenditure (predominantly via low to medium intensity aerobic exercise) proved to be the most effective approach in addressing this problem. In this experiment, we studied for a possible placebo effect of a weight loss program on changes in body mass and fat tissue in overweight or obese people. Fourteen healthy adults of both sexes aged between 19 and 45 with body mass index (BMI) > 27 participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to two groups—one experimental and one control. The subjects in the experimental group followed an isocaloric diet but were told they were put on a calorie-deficient regimen. The subjects in the control group were aware they followed an energy-balanced diet. All participants were engaged in regular sessions of resistance exercise three times a week with total energy cost of approximately 750–900 kcal/week. We studied within-group differences of body mass, percentage of fat tissue, and BMI. All three variables reduced in value in the experimental group: body mass—9.25 ± 5.26 kg, percentage of fat tissue—3.4 ± 0.97%, and BMI—2.88 ± 1.50. No statistically significant within-group differences were measured in the control group. Despite some methodological biases of the study construct, in our opinion, a placebo effect could partially explain the changes in the experimental group.
Highlights
In recent years the prevalence of obesity in developed countries has increased to the point that some authorities talk about “obesity epidemics.” According to data in 2014 more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight, with over 600 million being obese [1, 2]
All three variables reduced in value in the experimental group [data presented as mean value ± standard deviation (SD)]: body mass from 112.98 ± 19.93 to 103.73 ± 17.89 kg, difference of 9.25 kg; fat mass percentage from
The statistical power achieved for the parameters in the experimental group was as follows: body mass—0.08, fat tissue percentage—0.01, and body mass index (BMI)—0.2
Summary
In recent years the prevalence of obesity in developed countries has increased to the point that some authorities talk about “obesity epidemics.” According to data in 2014 more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight, with over 600 million being obese [1, 2]. The most effective approach proved to be that of combining energy intake control measures (via diet) with protocols aimed at increasing energy expenditure (predominantly via low to medium intensity aerobic exercise) [11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. Except the strictly mathematical part of the process of weight reduction (energy intake vs energy expenditure), there are many other complex (including psychological) factors, which influence the outcomes of such interventions [18,19,20]. The aim of this experiment was to distinguish between the metabolic and psychological/behavioral components of a weight loss intervention. We tried to measure only a possible
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