Despite beliefs to the
contrary, overweight people with a serious mental illness are able to make the
lifestyle changes necessary to lose weight, a new study found.
The study included 291
overweight or obese patients with a serious mental illness, including
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression. About half of the participants
(144) were enrolled in a program that provided them with simple nutrition
advice, counseling and regular exercise classes.
The rest of the
participants (147) were assigned to a "control" group, and received
no help with weight loss.
After 18 months, the
patients in the lifestyle changes program had lost an average of 7 more pounds
than those in the control group, the investigators found.
In addition, nearly 38
percent of those in the program had lost 5 percent or more of their initial
body weight and more than 18 percent had lost more than 10 percent of their
body weight, compared with 23 percent and 7 percent, respectively, of those in
the control group.
Participants in the
program continued to shed pounds as the intervention continued. It took a while
for the lifestyle changes to take hold, but they eventually proved successful,
the researchers noted in a news release from Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine.
The study authors
added that the weight loss amounts were similar to those seen in studies on
successful weight-loss programs for people in the general population.
Many people with a
serious mental illness are overweight or obese and their death rate is two to
three times higher than that of people in the general population, according to
background information in the news release. This increased risk of death is
primarily due to obesity-related complications, the authors noted.
However, it has been a
common belief that people with a serious mental illness are unable to stick
with the type of program that promotes lifestyle changes to help them lose
weight, the researchers pointed out.
"We sought to
dispel the perception that lifestyle programs don't work in this
population," study leader Dr. Gail Daumit, an associate professor of
general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
said in the Hopkins news release.
"There's this
really important need to find ways to help this population be healthier and
lose weight. We brought a weight-loss program to them, tailored to the needs of
people with serious mental illness. And we were successful," Daumit
said.