A recent study discovered that eating without any distraction, otherwise known as 'mindful eating' can promote weight loss, according to news reports.
The study was spearheaded by Carolyn Dunn, a nutrition specialist at the North Carolina State University in Raleigh. The study is currently presented at the annual European Congress on Obesity.
Dunn, along with her colleagues, rated the effectiveness of mindful eating through an online weight management program. The program is given by a live instructor in a fixed schedule every week. The online weight management program can be linked through a laptop, tablet and even a smartphone.
This program was called Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less. The duration of the online program lasted up to 15 weeks, which uses 'planned behavior' as a means to change unhealthy eating habits.
Obesity has become a public health problem, affecting more than twice of the the nation's population. Obesity can be prevented through proper diet and exercise. However, this is not an easy problem to tackle as other factors such as behavior and genetic predisposition make it difficult for an individual to lose weight.
Mindfulness is a type of meditation done by Buddhists. This method allows a person to present their thoughts, feelings and initiate awareness in their surroundings.
The researchers provided the participants with the Mindful Eating Questionnaire, which comprises 28 items. The questionnaire assesses five different aspects of mindful eating.
Among the 80 participants who said yes, 42 were assigned to an intervention group while 38 were designated in the control group. The 28 participants who completed the whole program lost more weight as compared to the 36 people remaining in the control group.
The average weight loss of participants who completed the program was 1.9 kilograms or 4.2 pounds. The participants in the control only had an average of 0.3 kilograms or 0.7 pounds. This result is considered as statistically significant by the researchers.