Experiences of barriers and facilitators to weight-loss in a diet intervention : a qualitative study of women in Northern Sweden

• Published in: BMC Women's Health
• Main Authors: Hammarström, Anne, Fjellman-Wiklund, Anncristine, Lindahl, Bernt, Larsson, Christel, Ahlgren, Christina
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Umeå universitet, Allmänmedicin 2014
• Subjects: behavior change; weight management; obesity/overweight; intervention programmes; gender; qualitative analysis; health behavior; women's health/midlife; Public Health; Global Health; Social Medicine and Epidemiology; Folkhälsovetenskap; global hälsa; socialmedicin och epidemiologi; Occupational Health and Environmental Health; Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin; Obstetrics; Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine; Reproduktionsmedicin och gynekologi; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-89223; https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-14-59

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of research about the experiences of participating in weight-reducing interventions. The aim of this study was to explore barriers and facilitators to weight-loss experienced by participants in a diet intervention for middle-aged to older women in the general population in Northern Sweden. METHOD: In the intervention the women were randomised to eat either a Palaeolithic-type diet or a diet according to Nordic Nutrition recommendations for 24 months. A strategic selection was made of women from the two intervention groups as well as from the drop-outs in relation to social class, civil status and age. Thematic structured interviews were performed with twelve women and analysed with qualitative content analyses. RESULTS: The results showed that the women in the dietary intervention experienced two main barriers - struggling with self (related to difficulties in changing food habits, health problems, lack of self-control and insecurity) and struggling with implementing the diet (related to social relations and project-related difficulties) - and two main facilitators- striving for self-determination (related to having clear goals) and receiving support (from family/friends as well as from the project) - for weight-loss. There was a greater emphasis on barriers than on facilitators. CONCLUSION: It is important to also include drop-outs from diet interventions in order to fully understand barriers to weight-loss. A gender-relational approach can bring new insights into understanding experiences of barriers to weight-loss.