AP21514

Prompt: Science Summary

A new study from Duke aimed to discover if obese women who lost or maintained their weight without gaining pounds back could reduce depression (Wood, 400). The study was conducted with about 200 low-income black women between the ages 25-44, each with a body mass index (Wood, 292) of 25 to 35, who were receiving care at five community health centers in central North Carolina (Duke University). These candidates were split into two groups. One group tracked their behavioral goals with a personal health coach once a month over a 12 month time span and became members of a gym, specifically the YMCA. The other group was used as the control group (Wood, 23). The control group simply received care with their usual physicians (Duke University). The results of this study showed that the control group had a steady 19% of women state they were still suffering depression after a 12 month and 18 month time period (Duke University). However, the behavioral tracking group over a 12 month period resulted in only 11% of the women remaining depressed and after an 18 month period only 10% still claiming feelings of depression (Duke University). This study does show a slight decrease in depression rates, however only by 1% and one specified ethnicity and gender. I am reminded of Barrett's Law #7 "correlation is not causation." This study needs further testing order to finalize that weight loss reduces depression.

References: Duke University. "Weight management program also reduces depression among black women." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 July 2014. .

Wood, Samuel E., Ellen R. Green. Wood, and Denise Roberts. Boyd. // Mastering the World of Psychology //. Fourth ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

Only graders edit below this line!

Grader #1: 1406395424 Grader #2: 1406594195] Grader #3: 1406732293] Grader #4: 1406825259] Grader #5: 1406825348] =Grading Form= media type="custom" key="25032734"