Keeping excess weight away requires more than diet control. A study led by Dr. Denise E. Wilfley at Washington University in St. Louis has found that rebound weight gain is lessened when children are given social facilitation training.
150 healthy, overweight children, between 7 and 12 years of age, with at least one overweight parent were given a 5 month weight loss treatment and then randomly assigned to one of two family-based approaches — a behavioral skills maintenance intervention, a social facilitation maintenance intervention, or to no ongoing contact after the initial weight loss program.
The behavioral skills maintenance intervention was based on a cognitive behavioral approach, focusing on self-regulation and behavioral strategies to prevent relapse. In the social facilitation intervention, the focus was on the child’s developmental context. The parents were taught to support child peer networks that encourage healthy eating and physical activity.
During the initial 5 month treatment, all the children lost weight. Thereafter,of the three groups, it was found that those in the social facilitation maintenance group were better able to cope with teasing and to engender support from their friends for both healthy eating and physical activity. Long-term follow-up suggested that social facilitation maintenance was better than behavioral skills maintenance at preventing future weight gain.
