Emotional Eating Behaviour, Mindful Eating Intervention, Obesity & Overweight
Conditions
Keywords
Obesity, Mindfulness, Mindful eating, Nutrition Therapy, Behavioral Intervention, Feasibility study, Group therapy, GLP-1 Receptor Agonist, Wegovy, Self-Regulation, Stigma, Eating behaviour
Brief summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a mindfulness-based nutrition group program is feasible and acceptable for adults with obesity who are taking GLP-1 receptor agonist medication and receiving usual medical care, including dietetic counselling. The main questions this study aims to answer are: Can this group program be successfully carried out with adults receiving GLP-1 treatment? Do participants find the program useful, acceptable, and manageable? Are participants willing to attend the sessions, complete the home exercises, and fill in the study questionnaires? Researchers will compare participants who receive the mindfulness-based nutrition group program plus usual care with participants who receive usual care only. Participants in the group program will take part in a 16-week intervention with nine group sessions. They will practice mindful eating, mindfulness exercises, journaling, and peer exchange. All participants will complete questionnaires and body measurements at the start of the study, after 16 weeks, and 12 months after the start of the study. The study does not test a new drug or device. The study team will not make decisions about participants' GLP-1 medication. All medication decisions remain part of usual medical care.
Detailed description
This is a pilot, randomized, controlled, open-label, two-arm feasibility trial evaluating a mindfulness-based nutritional group therapy (MBNGT) as an adjunct to standard care in adults with obesity undergoing treatment with GLP-1 receptor agonists. The trial is designed to assess the feasibility of study procedures and the acceptability of the intervention, and to generate preliminary exploratory data to inform the design of a future adequately powered trial. The MBNGT intervention is a 16-week dietetic group program integrating principles from mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindful eating approaches, nutritional therapy, and behavioral psychology. The intervention targets eating-related self-regulation, emotional awareness, mindful eating, and weight-related self-stigma. It includes structured group sessions, guided mindfulness and mindful eating exercises, journaling, home practice, and peer exchange. The intervention is delivered in addition to ongoing standard medical and dietetic care. Participants randomized to the control group continue to receive standard care only. Standard care consists of routine medical management of obesity and dietetic counselling related to GLP-1 receptor agonist treatment. The study does not involve modification of pharmacological treatment, and decisions regarding continuation, dose adjustment, or discontinuation of GLP-1 receptor agonists remain under routine clinical care. The primary focus of this pilot trial is feasibility, including recruitment, randomization, retention, intervention attendance, adherence to intervention components, completeness of data collection, and participant acceptability. Exploratory assessments will examine changes in eating behavior, mindful eating, internalized weight bias, self-regulation, emotional competence, mindfulness, psychological well-being, quality of life, body-related outcomes, and anthropometric and cardiovascular parameters. Semi-structured interviews will be used to explore participants' experiences with the intervention and perceived mechanisms of change. Assessments are conducted at baseline, after the 16-week intervention period, and at 12 months after baseline. The results will be used to refine the intervention, assess participant burden, evaluate the suitability of outcome measures, and guide the selection of primary outcomes and procedures for a future larger randomized trial.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMindfulness-based nutritional group therapy (MBNGT)
The intervention group will participate in a 16-week MBNT intervention with nine group sessions, led by a certified nutritionist and lecturer in nutrition psychology with expertise in obesity counseling and mindfulness-based interventions. The first four sessions will be held weekly. Thereafter, the intervals between sessions will be extended as the intervention incorporates additional components such as daily mindfulness exercises, journaling, and tandem peer support. Specifically, from session 4 onward, tandem exchange groups will be implemented and in group session 6, the digital application "insight timer" will be introduced. The app includes guided meditations and exercises designed to enhance emotional awareness and support self-regulation in participants' daily lives. Each group therapy session will include theoretical input, guided practices in meditation and mindful eating, take-home assignments, and journaling activities aimed
Sponsors
Bern University of Applied Sciences
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Feasibility study
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Adults aged ≥18 * Use of GLP-1-RAs for ≥ 4 months * Ability to provide informed consent * Sufficient German language proficiency to participate in group sessions and complete questionnaires * Willingness and ability to participate in a 16-week program and attend follow-up assessments
Exclusion criteria
* Pregnant or lactating women * Diagnosed substance use disorders (e.g., alcohol) * Diagnosed severe psychiatric disorders (e.g., psychosis, acute major depression, binge-eating-disorder) * Medical contraindications that prevent participation in behavioral interventions (e.g., unstable chronic disease) * Current participation in another behavioral or weight-related intervention study * Cognitive impairment or language barriers that prevent meaningful participation
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment rate | From start of recruitment to completion of recruitment | The enrolment rate will be calculated as the number of participants successfully enrolled per month over the recruitment period |
| Retention rate | From randomization to week 16 (±2-weeks) | Retention rate is defined as the proportion of randomized participants who complete the post-intervention assessment |
| Adherence | At week 16 (±2-weeks) | Adherence will be evaluated via an adherence questionnaire post-intervention documenting daily mindfulness exercises, tandem meetings, and reflection diary. |
| Completeness of questionnaire data | At baseline and week 16 (±2-weeks) | Data completion will be evaluated based on the proportion of fully completed questionnaires. |
| Acceptability of the intervention | At week 16 (±2-weeks) | Participant acceptability of the intervention will be assessed based on participants' subjective evaluation of whether the intervention was satisfactory and relevant and willingness to recommend the intervention to others. In addition, qualitative interviews will be conducted. |
| Session Attendance | At week 16 (±2-weeks) | Session attendance will be assessed as the mean number of intervention sessions attended per participant out of 9 planned sessions. |
| Randomization Acceptance and Attrition | At week 16 (±2-weeks) | Randomization acceptance will be assessed by evaluating the number of participants successfully randomized, any technical or procedural issues during allocation, and attrition rates after allocation, including potential differences in dropout between study arms that may indicate allocation-related dissatisfaction. |
Countries
Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed