PREOPERATIVE EATING BEHAVIOR AND WEIGHT-LOSS FOLLOWING GASTRIC BANDING FOR OBESITY

Background and Methods: The relationships between cognitive restraint and the tendency to disinhibition, as assessed by the Three Factor Eat ing Questionnaire (TFEQ), and the weight loss at 1 year following gast ric banding were evaluated. Results: A significant predictability of t he TFEQ Disinhibition score on the postoperative weight reduction was observed, while the amount of weight lost was negatively related to th e preoperative TFEQ Cognitive Restraint score. Conclusion: It must the n be hypothesized that the operated subjects feel a strong aversive st imulus and then they are led to reduce their food consumption only whe n they lose control and tend to overeat. The discomfort due to proxima l gastric pouch distension facilitates the development of food aversio n and then both the decrease of food intake and a change in eating beh avior. The subjects must therefore be encouraged to adopt an eating st yle that cannot allow them to avoid such a feeling.