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Press releases Monday 7 December to Friday 11 December 2009

Please remember to credit the BMJas source when publicising an article and to tell your readers that they can read its full text on the journal's website (http://www.bmj.com).

(1) New eating device retrains dietary habits and helps children lose weight
(2) BMJ Group Awards shortlist announced - Voting begins for Lifetime Achievement Award
(3) Two BMJ films selected for international short film festival

(1) New eating device retrains dietary habits and helps children lose weight
(Research: Treatment of childhood obesity by retraining eating behaviour: a randomised trial)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.b5388

A new computerised device that tracks portion size and how fast people eat is more successful in helping obese children and adolescents lose weight than standard treatments, according to research published on bmj.com today.

The Mandometer device, a portable computerised weighing scale, was developed at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. It helps to retrain individuals to eat less and more slowly by providing real-time feedback during meal times. The device plots a graph showing the rate at which food actually disappears from the plate, compared to the ideal graph programmed in by a food therapist.

Childhood obesity is an increasing global problem and there is little evidence to support one specific treatment programme. While it is unknown whether specific eating patterns are common in all obese people, in this study the patients ate large portions very quickly.

Researchers at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and the University of Bristol, led by Professor Julian Hamilton-Shield, carried out a randomised controlled trial of 106 obese patients aged between 9-17 years.

One group of participants received Mandometer therapy to lose weight and the other were provided with standard care. Both groups were encouraged to increase their levels of physical activity to 60 minutes of exercise a day and to eat a balanced diet based on the Food Standards Agency "eatwell plate."

Participants were assessed after 12 months and followed up at 18 months. During the research period they were also regularly monitored and offered telephone support and encouragement.

After 12 months, the Mandometer group not only had a significantly lower average body mass index and body fat score than the standard care group, but their portion size was smaller and their speed of eating was reduced by 11% compared with a gain of 4% in the other group. Levels of 'good cholesterol' were also significantly higher in the Mandometer group.

The improvement in body mass index was maintained six months after the end of treatment, suggesting an element of longer term behavioural change, add the authors.

"Mandometer therapy, focussing on eating speed and meal size, seems to be a useful addition to the rather sparse options available for treating adolescent obesity effectively without recourse to pharmacotherapy," say the authors.

They acknowledge that the Mandometer requires further evaluation in other settings and with different groups of patients, but conclude that "Retraining eating behaviour and reinforcing feelings of satiety, however, does seem to improve weight loss in obese adolescents."

Contacts:

Professor Julian Paul Hamilton-Shield, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK
Email: j.p.h.shield@bristol.ac.uk

Laura Treasure, Press Officer, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK
Or
Cherry Lewis - Research Communications Manager, University of Bristol, UK
Email: cherry.lewis@bristol.ac.uk

Professor Per Södersten, Karolinska Institutet, Mandometer Clinic, Novum, Sweden
Email: pesode@ki.se

(2) BMJ Group Awards shortlist announced - Voting begins for Lifetime Achievement Award (no embargo)
(Research: Mortality from pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza in England: public health surveillance study )
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.b5213

The shortlists for the second annual BMJ Group Awards are announced today.

The BMJ Group Awards in association with MDDUS recognise pioneering individuals and organisations that have made a significant impact on healthcare.

The winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award - for the individual who has made a substantial contribution to improving health care - will be chosen by BMJ readers in a vote now open on bmj.com. The ten shortlisted for this award from over 100 nominations around the world come from the UK, Belgium, South Africa, Zambia, Canada and the United States. (the full list and biographies is on http://groupawards.bmj.com/)

The awards ceremony, hosted by TV personality and comedian Tony Hawks, takes place on 10th March in London. There are 11 awards altogether, including three new categories: Primary Care Team of the Year, Secondary Care Team of the Year, and Junior Doctor of the Year.

Leading clinicians shortlisted include Dr Julie Andrews from the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust and Dr Alex Crowe from the Wirral University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

NHS organisations shortlisted include the University of Nottingham Health Service, the Royal Free Hospital in London, the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the County Durham Primary Care Trust.

Four research papers have been selected as candidates for the Research Paper of the Year. The studies were on a new kind of imaging for early detection of lung cancer, prevention of death and disability in severe malaria, financial incentives to quit smoking, and training and simple testing to help GPs prescribe antibiotics more appropriately for chest infections.

BMJ editor, Dr Fiona Godlee said: "We are delighted with the enthusiastic response to our awards and we have received over 700 entries, over twice as many as last year. This has helped us identify some of the best practice in healthcare and the outstanding contributions that are being made to improving outcomes for patients."

Details on the full shortlist are at: http://groupawards.bmj.com/

(3) Two BMJ films selected for international short film festival (no embargo)
Two BMJ films have been selected for the 2010 CinéGlobe International Short Film Festival, which celebrates short science documentaries.

"Virtual Reality Training" follows a team of Danish researchers as they show how using virtual reality simulators to train surgeons improves performance and reduces operating time. The film is linked to a research paper published by the BMJ. View the full film here: http://www.bmj.com/video/vr_training.dtl

"The Man Who Stopped Smoking" charts the remarkable life of Professor Sir Richard Doll, whose case control study, published in the BMJ in 1950, first identified smoking as an important cause of cancer and other diseases. This 10 minute film was made to promote the BMJ archive now being fully searchable back to 1840.

View the full film here: http://www.bmj.com/video/doll.dtl

Both films were produced by the award-winning television and multimedia producer Martin Freeth. The festival will take place on 16-20th February 2010 in Switzerland. http://cineglobe.ch/2010/

FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS

For more information please contact:

Emma Dickinson
Tel: +44 (0)20 7383 6529
Email: edickinson@bma.org.uk

Press Office telephone : 020 7383 6254 (Weekdays : 0900hrs - 1800hrs)
British Medical Association
BMA House, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP

and from:

the EurekAlert website, run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (http://www.eurekalert.org)
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