Date of Award

2023

Degree Type

Selective Evidence-Based Medicine Review

Degree Name

Master of Science in Health Sciences - Physician Assistant

Department

Physician Assistant Studies

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not Intuitive Eating (IE) is effective in improving eating related attitudes and behaviors in adult women.

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review of three randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

DATA SOURCES: PubMed was utilized to find three randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Results were filtered by English language, published after the year 2011, and with adult female participants.

OUTCOMES MEASURED: The outcome of significance is eating related attitudes and behaviors, as measured by the Intuitive Eating Scale (IES). An older, 27-Item IES was utilized in one study, while the newer 21-Item IES was utilized in two studies. For both versions, patients self-report scores on a 5-point scale at baseline and at varying time points after the intervention. Higher scores correspond to higher levels of intuitive eating.

RESULTS: Wilson et al. found that each component of the 27-item IES showed a statistically significant medium to large treatment effect one month following intervention. Gravel et al. demonstrated small treatment effects 12 weeks post intuitive eating intervention. However, three of the four components of the 21-item IES were not statistically significant. Mesinger et al. also utilized the 21-Item IES to demonstrate a small treatment effect 24 months after intervention, but it lacked statistical significance.

CONCLUSION: The results are inconclusive. Since all of the studies utilized different time frames for follow-up, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from the data. More research is needed to evaluate intuitive eating as effective long term treatment for obesity. It would be prudent for future researchers to evaluate the effect of intuitive eating as it pertains to different BMI groups.

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