Mindset Affects Weight
Posted on: February 5th, 2015
Words can have an enormous impact on people that goes well beyond the psychological. More and more research of late supports that perceptions and what we are told can result in physical changes. This is at once fascinating and troubling.
A recent study published in Psychological Science found that teens who mistakenly thought they were overweight had a 40% greater risk of becoming obese before age 30. Another study conducted by Angelina Sutin of Florida State University College of Medicine reached similar conclusions. After surveying 6,523 people at ages 16 and again at age 28, Sutin reported that teens who erroneously thought they were overweight were at greater risk of becoming overweight adults. This echoed findings by UCLA researcher Janet Tomiyama who showed that when caregivers tell young girls they’re “too fat,” those girls have a higher probability of becoming obese, no matter what their childhood weight. Tomiyama hypothesized that the stress of being criticized about weight may have led young girls to eat more.
It was heartening however to discover that the opposite is also true. An experiment by Harvard researchers Alia Crum and Ellen Langer found that perceptions shaped by knowledge often result in positive body image and healthier weight. At the onset of the experiment 84 hotel maids were surveyed about their daily exercise levels. Two-thirds claimed that they didn’t exercise regularly, and 36 percent said they didn’t get any exercise at all – despite the fact that the daily duties of a hotel maid either meet or exceed the Surgeon General’s recommendations for an active lifestyle. Half the maids were informed that their daily work – making beds, cleaning rooms and vacuuming – was good exercise and satisfied the government’s criteria for a healthy, active lifestyle. The other half of the maid group was not given this information.
Four weeks later, the maids that were educated about their naturally-active lifestyle had lost an average of two pounds and had lowered their blood pressure by an average of ten points. Their body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio numbers improved as well. In contrast, the maids that were not educated about their activity level showed no physical changes whatsoever. The researchers attributed the maids’ stunning short-term improvements to the “placebo effect” for exercise, and concluded that “it is clear that health is significantly affected by mindset.”
If you are struggling with your weight or believe you have an eating disorder, Maureen Kritzer Lange Psychotherapy can bring relief and help you achieve a balanced, healthy lifestyle. Email info@maureenkritzerlange.com or call (973) 313-1691.
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