This study was conducted to investigate the effects of weight control programs on BMI, serum profiles, nutrition knowledge and eating behaviors of adult obese women. The subjects of this study were 33 adult obese women aged 30- 65 years residing in Seoul. The weight control program for obese women included nutritional education, cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise for 12 weeks. The weight control experience of the subjects was 60.6%. They preferred physical exercise and diet restriction to weight control and 72.7% of subjects answered that the reasons for wanting to control their weight was health. The BMI of test subjects significantly decreased (p<0.001) from 28.3 to 27.1 after the 12 weeks of the weight control program. In addition, the % body fat significantly decreased (p<0.001) from 36.4% to 34.5% after completion of the weight control program. SGPT levels in the serum were also significantly decreased (p<0.05) after the program. Triglyceride levels significantly decreased from 194.9 mg/dL to 98.1 mg/dL (p<0.01) and the HDL cholesterol level significantly increased (p<0.01) from 55.8 mg/dL to 60.0 mg/dL after completion of the weight control program. Nutritional knowledge and eating behavior scores were significantly increased (p<0.001). In addition, the eating self-efficacy of the subjects was significantly increased (p<0.01); however, the food diversity scores were not changed after the program. These results suggest that the weight control program for adult obese women may be effectively used to promote weight reduction and improve nutritional knowledge and eating behavior.

• 김경희(덕성여자대학교 식품영양학 전공) | Kyung Hee Kim Corresponding author