Abstract
The prevalence of obesity with comorbid binge eating behaviour is growing at a faster rate than that seen for either obesity or eating disorders as separate conditions. Approximately 6% of the population are affected and they potentially face a lifetime of poor physical and mental health outcomes and an inability to sustain long-term weight loss. Current treatment options are inadequate in that they typically address either obesity or eating disorders exclusively, not the combination of both conditions. By treating one condition without treating the other, relapse is common, and patients are often left disappointed with their lack of weight loss. An integrated approach to treating these individuals is needed to prevent a worsening of the comorbidities associated with excess body weight and eating disorders. A new therapy has recently been developed, named HAPIFED, which addresses both overweight/obesity and comorbid binge eating behaviour with the combination of behavioural weight loss therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy-enhanced (CBT-E). The aim of this paper is to document the protocol for the Real Happy Study, which will evaluate the effectiveness of the HAPIFED program in treating overweight or obesity with comorbid binge-eating behaviour in a real-world setting.
Highlights
The prevalence of obesity with comorbid eating disorder behaviours such as binge eating is high and rapidly rising [1]
This significant population-wide growth is consistent with the prevalence of binge eating reported in individuals with overweight or obesity as described in a number of international publications [2,3]
We hypothesize that the HAPIFED program for the treatment of individuals with overweight or obesity and comorbid binge eating behaviours will result in weight loss and a reduction in binge eating and eating disorder symptoms, as assessed with the global score on the eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-Q)
Summary
The prevalence of obesity with comorbid eating disorder behaviours such as binge eating is high and rapidly rising [1]. Data from large, cross-sectional, representative community samples of adults from South Australia, established that in 2015, almost 6% of the population had obesity with binge eating behaviours, an increase of 7.3-fold over the previous 20-year period. This represents a faster rate of growth in prevalence than that seen for either obesity or binge eating behaviour as separate conditions, with respective increases of 2-fold and 5.3-fold over the same time period [1].
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