The Healthy Weights Initiative: a community-based obesity reduction program with positive impact on depressed mood scores

Figures & data

Table 1 Participant demographics and baseline information in the Healthy Weights Initiative, N=296

Variable	n (%)
Sex
Male	76 (25.7)
Female	220 (74.3)
Age category (years)
18–25	18 (6.1)
26–34	50 (16.9)
25–44	78 (26.4)
45–54	75 (25.3)
55–64	70 (23.6)
65+	5 (1.7)
Marital status
Married	179 (60.5)
Common law	32 (10.8)
Single	85 (28.7)
Education level
Less than high school	19 (6.4)
High school	111 (37.5)
College/technical/trade	123 (41.6)
University	42 (14.2)
Missing	1 (0.3)
Employment status
Unemployed	46 (15.6)
Nonprofessional	194 (65.5)
Professional	54 (18.2)
Retired	2 (0.7)
Chronic disease comorbidities
At least one reported	199 (67.2)
None reported	95 (32.1)
Missing	2 (0.7)
Smoking status
Smoker	51 (17.2)
Nonsmoker	237 (80.0)
Missing	8 (2.7)
Baseline obesity
Class I	107 (36.1)
Class II	90 (30.4)
Class III	94 (31.8)
Missing	5 (1.7)
Completed the program
Yes	234 (79.1)
No	62 (20.9)
Depressed mood (BDI-II range)
Normal (≤10)	158 (53.4)
Mild (11–16)	71 (24.0)
Borderline clinical (17–20)	37 (12.5)
Moderate (21–30)	19 (6.4)
Extreme/severe (>31)	5 (1.7)
Missing	6 (2.0)

Abbreviation: BDI-II, Beck Depression Inventory II.

Table 2 Baseline BDI-II scores across demographics and program completion and adherence (lower scores indicate better mood), N=290

	Mean (SD)	95% CI	P-value
Sex			0.003
Males	8.3 (7.0)	6.7–9.9
Females	11.3 (7.5)	10.3–12.3
Age			0.008
<45 years	11.7 (8.1)	10.3–13.0
45 years or older	9.3 (6.5)	8.2–10.4
Marital status			0.018
Single	12.1 (8.0)	10.4–13.8
Married/common law	9.8 (7.1)	8.8–10.8
Education level			0.579
Secondary or less	10.8 (7.5)	9.4–12.1
Postsecondary	10.3 (7.5)	9.1–11.4
Employment			0.541
Unemployed	10.1 (6.4)	8.2–11.9
Nonprofessional	10.8 (7.7)	9.7–11.9
Professional	9.6 (7.3)	7.6–11.7
Smoking status			0.662
Smoker	11.0 (8.8)	8.4–13.5
Nonsmoker	10.4 (7.2)	9.5–11.4
Program completion			0.111
No	11.9 (7.9)	9.8–14.0
Yes	10.1 (7.3)	9.2–11.1
Gym adherence			0.178
<80%	11.0 (6.7)	9.7–12.3
80% or more	9.7 (7.8)	8.5–10.9
Diet adherence			0.164
<80%	10.6 (7.7)	9.4–11.8
80% or more	9.1 (6.2)	7.6–10.6
CBT adherence			0.212
<80%	10.5 (7.7)	9.4–11.1
80% or more	9.1 (6.0)	7.5–10.7

Notes: P-values were considered significant at an α level of 0.05. A comparison of means was performed via a two sample t-test.

Abbreviations: BDI-II, Beck Depression Inventory II; CBT, cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Figure 1 Flow diagram for included participants.

Abbreviation: BDI-II, Beck Depression Inventory II.

Table 3 Comparing baseline and follow-up BDI-II scores between those who completed the program and those who quit (lower scores indicate better mood), N=290

	Did not complete, the program	Completed, the program	P-value
Mean BDI score (mean ± SD)
Baseline	12.13 (8.1)	9.97 (7.0)
Follow-up	13.23 (9.4)	5.09 (4.6)
Baseline (%)			0.039
No depressed mood	30 (53.6)	127 (54.7)
Mild/borderline depressed mood	17 (30.4)	91 (39.3)
Moderate-to-severe depressed mood	9 (16.0)	14 (6.0)
Follow-up (%)			0.000
No depressed mood	24 (42.9)	188 (80.3)
Mild/borderline depressed mood	15 (26.8)	22 (9.4)
Moderate-to-severe depressed mood	15 (26.8)	3 (1.3)

Notes: Results are in response to a one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). P-values were considered significant at the α 0.05 level.

Abbreviation: BDI-II, Beck Depression Inventory II.

Table 4 Subgroup with BDI-II scores of ≥11 at baseline (n=106)

	Depressed mood, after 12 weeks (%)	No depressed mood, after 12 weeks (%)	P-value
Demographics
Sex			0.942
Male	4 (23.5)	13 (76.5)
Female	19 (24.4)	59 (75.6)
Age (years)			0.364
Younger than 45	8 (17.0)	39 (83.0)
45 and older	15 (31.3)	33 (68.8)
Marital status			0.908
Not married	8 (23.5)	26 (76.5)
Married or common law	15 (24.6)	46 (75.4)
Employment			0.765
Not employed	5 (31.3)	11 (68.8)
Nonprofessional	15 (23.1)	50 (76.9)
Professional	3 (21.4)	11 (78.6)
Education level			0.483
High school or less	8 (20.5)	31 (79.5)
Postsecondary	15 (26.8)	41 (73.2)
Health
Number of comorbidities reported			0.527
None	6 (30.0)	14 (70.0)
One	4 (16.0)	21 (84.0)
Two or more	12 (24.5)	37 (75.5)
Number of prescription drugs			0.116
None	8 (23.5)	26 (76.5)
One or two	6 (15.4)	33 (84.6)
Three or more	8 (40.0)	12 (60.0)
Smoking status			0.174
Yes	6 (37.5)	10 (62.5)
No	17 (21.5)	62 (78.5)
Program adherence
Exercise sessions			0.470
<80%	9 (29.0)	22 (71.0)
80% or more	14 (22.2)	49 (77.8)
Diet sessions			0.726
<80%	7 (22.6)	24 (77.4)
80% or more	12 (26.1)	34 (73.9)
CBT sessions			0.742
<80%	10 (26.3)	28 (73.7)
80% or more	9 (23.1)	30 (76.9)

Note: Cross-tabulations of depressed mood at follow-up across demographics, health variables, and program adherence. P-values were considered significant at an α level of 0.05. A comparison of means was performed via a two sample t-test.

Abbreviations: BDI-II, Beck Depression Inventory II; CBT, cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Table 5 Subgroup with BDI-II scores of ≥11 at baseline (n=106)

	Depressed mood, after 12 weeks	No depressed mood, after 12 weeks	P-value
Self-esteem (%)
In general, I like the way I am			0.144
False/mostly false	13 (31.7)	28 (68.3)	NA
Sometimes true/sometimes false	10 (22.2)	35 (77.8)	NA
True/mostly true	0	8 (100.0)	NA
I have a lot to be proud of			0.900
False/mostly false	1 (16.7)	5 (83.3)	NA
Sometimes true/sometimes false	13 (25.0)	39 (75.0)	NA
True/mostly true	9 (25.0)	27 (75.0)	NA
Many things about me are good			0.687
False/mostly false	1 (12.5)	7 (87.5)	NA
Sometimes true/sometimes false	10 (27.0)	27 (73.0)	NA
True/mostly true	12 (24.5)	37 (75.5)	NA
I like the way I look			0.001
False/mostly false	20 (33.9)	39 (66.1)	NA
Sometimes true/sometimes false	2 (3.1)	31 (96.9)	NA
True/mostly true	2 (66.7)	1 (33.3)	NA
Self-report (%)
Mental health			0.874
Poor/fair	9 (25.0)	27 (75.0)	NA
Good	12 (25.5)	35 (74.5)	NA
Very good/excellent	2 (22.2)	9 (77.8)	NA
Health			0.303
Poor/fair	18 (28.6)	45 (71.4)	NA
Good	5 (18.5)	22 (81.5)	NA
Very good/excellent	0	4 (100.0)	NA
SF-36 dimension (mean ± SD)
Physical functioning	54.4 (18.6)	62.1 (22.2)	0.136
Role limitations d/t physical health	47.5 (34.5)	52.3 (38.3)	0.594
Pain	6.6 (17.7)	59.8 (24.2)	0.018
General health	32.8 (18.3)	43.7 (20.7)	0.026
Vitality	33.1 (18.4)	35.5 (16.0)	0.555
Social functioning	59.1 (23.2)	61.3 (23.8)	0.705
Role limitations d/t emotional health	54.6 (30.6)	51.1 (39.4)	0.697
Emotional well-being	49.2 (11.9)	56.3 (16.9)	0.061
Physiological measure (mean ± SD)
Weight (lbs)	240.3 (47.9)	242.8 (47.0)	0.829
Body mass index (kg/m^2)	39.0 (7.5)	38.9 (7.0)	0.929
Body fat (lbs)	111.8 (27.0)	110.9 (26.3)	0.893
Body fat (%)	46.3 (3.9)	45.2 (4.3)	0.286
Waist circumference (inches)	46.1 (6.1)	45.4 (5.4)	0.587
Hip circumference (inches)	50.5 (6.2)	51.7 (7.0)	0.444
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	128.9 (17.3)	131.7 (11.0)	0.361
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	84.8 (10.7)	84.0 (10.8)	0.751
Blood glucose (mmol/L)	5.5 (0.5)	6.0 (2.3)	0.279
Blood cholesterol (mmol/L)	4.9 (1.1)	5.0 (1.2)	0.786
Aerobic fitness score	151.7 (128.5)	161.6 (120.6)	0.738

Notes: Cross-tabulations of depressed mood at follow-up across mental health, well-being, and physiological measures at baseline. Results are in response to a one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). P-values were considered significant at the α 0.05 level.

Abbreviations: BDI-II, Beck Depression Inventory II; SF-36, Short Form-36; d/t, due to.

Table 6 Independent risk factors for having depressed mood at follow-up

Independent variable	Odds ratio	95% CI	P-value
SF-36 general health
Score <40	3.39	1.18–9.72	0.023

Note: Results are in response to a binary logistic regression. P-values were considered significant at the α 0.05 level.

Abbreviation: SF-36, Short Form-36.