Individuals managing their weight are often faced with problem foods that are difficult to resist eating. In the context of a weight-loss intervention, we characterized the most commonly reported problem foods and the behavioral strategies used to manage them, and examined which strategies were related to weight loss. Women with overweight and obesity (N = 186) participated in a one-year randomized trial of three interventions (NCT01474759): standard advice to eat less food, choosing portions based on energy density, and using pre-portioned foods. At Months 0, 6, and 12 of the trial, participants listed the foods they found most problematic and reported the frequency of using eight behavioral strategies to control intake of these foods, including three practices for avoiding exposure to problem foods and three for consuming them but limiting intake. The responses showed that 82% of the top three problem foods were in the categories of sweet baked items, salty snacks, starchy side dishes, chocolate and candy, and ice cream. After one year, women who reported more frequently using the strategy of limiting portions of problem foods had a greater rate of weight loss (kg/week), regardless of their intervention group (p < 0.0001). Among women who limited portions of problem foods less frequently, those using pre-portioned foods had greater initial weight loss compared to the other two groups, but then regained weight at a greater rate (p < 0.0001). The three avoidance strategies for problem foods were reported to be frequently used but were not found to be related to weight loss. These results suggest that adopting and maintaining strategies to manage portions of problem foods, rather than avoiding exposure to them, can be a more useful approach for weight loss.

中文翻译：

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在随机临床试验中，哪些管理问题食物的策略与减肥有关？


控制体重的人常常面临难以抗拒的问题食物。在减肥干预的背景下，我们描述了最常报告的问题食物以及用于管理它们的行为策略，并检查了哪些策略与减肥相关。超重和肥胖的女性 (N = 186) 参加了一项为期一年的随机试验，涉及三种干预措施 (NCT01474759)：少吃食物的标准建议、根据能量密度选择份量以及使用预先分配的食物。在试验的第 0、6 和 12 个月，参与者列出了他们发现最有问题的食物，并报告了使用八种行为策略来控制这些食物摄入的频率，包括三种避免接触问题食物的做法和三种食用问题食物的做法但限制摄入量。调查结果显示，前三大问题食品中 82% 属于甜烘焙食品、咸味零食、淀粉类配菜、巧克力和糖果以及冰淇淋。一年后，报告更频繁地使用限制问题食物份量策略的女性，无论其干预组如何，其体重减轻率（公斤/周）都更高（p < 0.0001）。在较少限制问题食物份量的女性中，与其他两组相比，使用预先分配食物的女性最初体重减轻幅度更大，但随后体重恢复速度更快（p < 0.0001）。据报道，这三种避免问题食物的策略被经常使用，但并未发现与减肥有关。这些结果表明，采取并维持策略来管理部分有问题的食物，而不是避免接触它们，可能是更有用的减肥方法。