Scientist Eric Stice, Ph.D. and his colleagues at the Oregon Research Institute have established that their obesity prevention program with young women has reduced the risk for onset of eating disorders by 61 percent and obesity by 55 percent. The effectiveness of this program has even continued 3 years after it was terminated. These Oregon Research Institute (ORI) scientists assist young women reduce their influence of the thin ideal which is the association of success and happiness to being thin.

Eric Stice, Ph.D. an ORI scientist was able to reduce the onset  of eating disorders and obesity in young women by 61% and 55%, respectively.  The obesity prevention program developed by Stice and colleagues were able to produce results that continued for up to three years post enrollment.

This data proves an important point. Up until now, no program has been shown to effectively minimize the risk of future anorexia, bulimia, or obesity diagnoses. While 80 different programs had been analyzed, none of them had shown a statistically significant impact on the onset of these life-threatening conditions.

According to Stice, a reason behind the effectiveness of these programs is its requirement for the youth to support a healthy perspective that eventually leads them to internalize more healthy attitudes. Moreover, these programs have simple take-home messages that are easier to recall in the future than those provided by complex prevention programs.
Stice, doing researches on eating disorders for the past 18 years is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These researches were initiated at the Stanford University and the University of Texas, and now continued at the Oregon Research Institute in Eugene, Oregon. At present, he is conducting two researches to further test programs with young women in Eugene/Springfield.

The Healthy Weight program, piloted in a study for 18-22 year old women in Eugene/Springfield, will help teenagers maintain a healthy diet and exercise regime. Participants will minimize intake of salty, fatty foods, while building an effective workout routine. The program is designed to have a long-term impact, setting it apart from the short-term bursts of healthy living that are common with diet fads.

The Body Project is an eating disorder prevention program that includes sessions one hour per week for four weeks.  During these sessions, participants will discuss the thin ideal that confronts all women in todays culture, as well as learn how to challenge these current ideals along with any future pressures to be thin.  Body dissatisfaction and symptoms of eating disorders have also been reduced, which is another important result of the program.  Stice, partnered with local high schools, has trained counselors of the local schools to lead and teach the weekly sessions of the study.

Stice points out that the goal is that the program will be adopted by other institutions and communities for delivery into the school system.  He states that this program will possibly reduce substantially the prevalence of these serious health issues, if it is introduces to enough of children.

Eating disorders are common among young women. In addtion, obesity is the cause of 111,000 deaths annually in the US. Therefore, it is critical to create and offer prevention programs aimed at these medical conditions. Over seven institutions began offering interventions such as these in both the US and other countries.