Effect of Managing Problematic Eating Behaviours With Dietary Management on Chronic Disease Self-management

Dietary management is an integral aspect of self care for many chronic diseases. Craving Change™ is a standard program already offered at many Family Health Teams (FHT) to patients interested in being more mindful of their food choices. The program helps patients understand why they have difficulty with modifying behaviours associated with diet, addresses the impact of emotion on eating behaviour and provides affect regulation strategies. Existing literature shows that emotion has a strong effect on food choice and that emotion regulation can lead to improvements in food choice. Craving Change™, however, is currently not selectively offered at FHTs to patients deemed to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and has not been evaluated in that context. For this study, we propose to 1) Selectively target patients at higher cardiometabolic risk; and 2) Evaluate an effect of the program (as modified to address chronic diseases) through a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). If found to be effective, the modified Craving Change™ program, called "Beyond the Fork: A health-centred approach to managing chronic disease", could be broadly implemented within Family Health Teams.