Determining the effectiveness of a nutrition intervention program in the treatment of bulimia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a nutrition program in the treatment of bulimia. The study measured whether treatment (a six-week nutrition program) was more effective than a control (psychotherapy only) group in: (1) decreasing the weekly frequency of binge/purge episodes; (2) increasing nutritional quality of food intake retained; (3) improving body weight and eating attitudes; and (4) maintaining body weight and percentage of body fat in bulimic subjects. Results showed that both the treatment and control groups decreased the frequency of binge/purge episodes in the bulimic patients; however, treatment was not significantly more effective than control. Treatment was significantly more effective than control in the pre- and post-testing of body weight and eating attitudes and in improving the percentages of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for most of the nutrients analyzed. There was no significant difference found for body weight and percentage of body fat between treatment and control groups. It was concluded that nutritional intervention helped to decrease the frequency of binge/purge episodes, changed the highly disturbed attitudes of body weight and eating to a lesser degree, and increased the nutritional quality of dietary intake of bulimic subjects without adversely affecting body weight and percentage of body fat.