Researchers at Otago University have found that non- dieting interventions to improve overweight and obese women's health have a longer-lasting effect if they include relaxation training, the 'Preventive Medicine' journal reported.

The study's lead author, Dr Caroline Horwath, said: "Stress and negative emotions can trigger women to overeat and consume high-fat and high-sugar foods.

"By learning and practicing relaxation techniques, like progressive muscle relaxation, abdominal breathing and visualisation, as part of a wider lifestyle change programme, women have effective tools to manage stress and emotions without resorting to unhealthy eating."

The researchers have based their findings on analysis of a two-year follow-up of a ground-breaking research project into the effectiveness of non-dieting intervention programmes in improving lifestyle behaviours and reducing distress.

In the study, 225 women with a body mass index of 28 or more were randomly assigned to one of three intervention programmes. All three 10-week-long programmes assisted women in moving their focus away from calorie counting and body weight, towards sustainable lifestyle changes that enhanced their well-being, regardless of weight loss.

According to Horwath, despite giving up dieting, women in all three interventions successfully prevented any weight gain over the two-year period, "which is a promising outcome for a group at high risk of weight gain over time".

"However, the most striking result was in the non-dieting intervention that also included intensive training in techniques to elicit the body's relaxation response. At the two-year mark, these women were the only ones to maintain the psychological and medical symptom improvements they showed at the end of the first year.