Web program may help ward off eating disorders

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Young women showed less dissatisfaction with their weight and shape after participating in an Internet-based eating disorder prevention program, researchers from Germany found.

The program's effects were strongest among the women who were at highest risk of developing eating disorders, Dr. Corinna Jacobi of the Technical University of Dresden and colleagues report.

Stanford University developed the program called Student Bodies to help at-risk young women adopt healthy eating habits and become more satisfied with their bodies. Jacobi and her team adopted the program for a German audience by translating text and audio files and replacing any elements that were too culturally specific to the US.

They recruited 100 university students aged 18 to 29, all of whom said they wanted to improve their body image, and randomized half to participate in the Student Bodies program for eight weeks. The other half were assigned to a waiting list and served as a control group.

Three months later, the women who had participated in the Internet program showed lower scores on a test measuring their drive for thinness. They also scored lower on tests of weight concern and body shape concern compared to the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant.

However, when the researchers restricted their analysis to the 22 young women at highest risk for developing an eating disorder based on their weight concerns at the study's outset, those who participated in the program showed significant reductions in their concerns over their weight and shape compared to those who were in the control group.

Because girls face the greatest danger of developing eating disorders during adolescence, further research is needed to see if the intervention is effective in younger people, the authors conclude.

SOURCE: International Journal of Eating Disorders, March 2007.

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