Managing stress and tracking food seemed to boost confidence in eating well.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The 54 trials had 15,873 people, mostly from the USA or Canada. About four in ten trials recruited people with clinical needs, such as patients or people with weight concerns.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each programme was compared with a different programme or with nothing. The median programme lasted about two months and had eight sessions.

3. 03

   What happened

   Across all 54 trials, diet programmes helped people feel more able to eat well, but the gain was small. Stress management, tracking and goal review each made a clear difference compared with programmes that left them out. Rewards and feedback gave results that were not quite clear, and the tests found signs that studies with weaker results are missing.

What the review found

1. Helped

   Across 54 trials, diet programmes helped people feel more able to eat well than other groups did.

   Pooled analysis of 54 studies with 15,873 people · vs groups that got another programme or nothing · they rated themselves · ⚠ most studies had serious flaws; signs that small negative studies went unpublished; the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

2. Helped

   Adding stress management to a programme helped people feel more able to eat well.

   • Action: Do a relaxation exercisetested

   Pooled analysis of 9 studies · vs programmes that left that part out · they rated themselves · ⚠ most studies had serious flaws; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

3. Helped

   Prompting people to track their own eating helped them feel more able to eat well.

   • Action: Track your progresstested

   Pooled analysis of 20 studies · vs programmes that did not ask for tracking · they rated themselves · ⚠ most studies had serious flaws; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

4. Helped

   Prompting people to review their goals helped them feel more able to eat well.

   • Action: Reflect on how you performedtested

   Pooled analysis of 9 studies · vs programmes that did not ask for a review · they rated themselves · ⚠ most studies had serious flaws; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

Source