Effectiveness of Lifestyle Modification Therapy on Weight Management, Body Image and Self-Esteem of Overweight Women

Objective: Prevalence of obesity and overweight in Iranian women is increasing. Due to the obesity consequences, prevention is important. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of lifestyle modification on the management of weight loss, body image and self-esteem in overweight women. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in a semi-experimental method using pretest-posttest design with control group. The sample of study were 30 obese women referred to nutrition and treatment clinics in the north of Tehran, who were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental group based on lifestyle and control group. Data were collected using structured clinical interviews, structured clinical interviews for personality disorders, body mass index (BMI), Multiple Body-Self Relationship Questionnaire (MBSRQ), Weight Efficacy Lifestyle (WEL), and Scale of Self-Esteem Index for Women-Short-form (SSEL-W-SF). Data were analyzed using multivariate covariance analysis (MANCOVA). For training subjects, lifestyle modification therapy was used in 12 sessions of 90 minutes, once a week. No intervention was used for control group and pretest and post-test were performed for both groups. Results: The results showed that lifestyle modification therapy had a significant effect on weight management, body image and sexual self-esteem of women with high overweight. This means that the experimental group had higher weight management, body image and sexual self-esteem after intervention than the control group (P≤0.001). Conclusion: These results indicate that training the women with high overweight for lifestyle modification has a significant impact on creating new and original inspirations and actions; and this training can be used as a useful intervention to improve the level of weight management, body image and sexual self-esteem among overweight women.