Desire Resistance and Desire Reduction in Public Health Approaches to Obesity

Abstract

A variety of public health and community-level interventions targeting health policy, the environment, and individual behaviors have been developed to reduce or prevent obesity. These interventions typically emphasize either (1) “desire reduction” (D-RED) strategies that attempt to reduce the desire to consume energy or reduce the desire to be sedentary or (2) “desire resistance” (D-RES) strategies that help individuals effectively resist the desire to consume energy or resist the desire to be sedentary. By focusing mostly on environmental modifications, public health interventions may be overemphasizing D-RED to the near exclusion of D-RES. Because it is impossible to eliminate all food- and activity-related stimuli, public health interventions may benefit from a more balanced approach that includes both D-RED and D-RES strategies. Future research is needed to explore the utility of public health approaches that incorporate D-RES efforts into obesity reduction programs.