Creating an appetite awareness and lifestyle modification intervention for Black women at risk for binge eating disorder: A pilot open trial

Despite the availability of evidence-based interventions to improve binge eating, Black women have some of the lowest rates of access to care for eating disorders. Innovation is needed to offer accessible and culturally relevant treatment options. To this end, using an open trial design, we investigated the feasibility and acceptability of a group-based, appetite awareness training (AAT) + lifestyle modification (LM) programme in Black women at risk for BED in a primary care setting. Participants (n = 20) were Black women recruited from a family medicine centre affiliated with a local public university, and who reported at least two binge eating episodes in the last 28 days. Participants completed a 16-session AAT + LM programme over 4 months. Key outcomes were objective binge eating (assessed by the EDE and the EDE-Q), body dissatisfaction, and weight change, all assessed at baseline, four (post-treatment) and 6 months (2-month follow-up). Ninety-five percent of participants completed assessments at post-treatment and attended nearly 60% of intervention sessions. Among completers (n = 19), body dissatisfaction and objective binge eating decreased from baseline to post-treatment and this decrease was maintained at the 2-month follow-up. In exit interviews, participants reported programme satisfaction. Providing training in appetite awareness combined with lifestyle modification principles may be useful in the treatment of body dissatisfaction and binge eating among Black women.