Binge Eating Spectrum Treatment in Older Women (BESTOW): An Investigation and Intervention-Tailoring Project

The Beeson Emerging Leaders in Aging Career Development Award (K76) will equip Dr. Lisa Kilpela with the expertise and professional skill set to become a leading gerontological expert in disordered eating and nutrition pathology, and to advance this emerging and important field.

Binge Eating (BE) is closely linked to obesity and depression and, even independent of these comorbidities, is associated with metabolic dysfunction, sleep problems, disability, and poorer quality of life. Although evidence-based treatments for BE exist for younger women, these treatments need to be tailored for older women in order to address aging-related factors not present in younger women that have implications for treatment (e.g., cognitive decline, menopausal symptoms). As such, the proposed research aims to:

Identify factors that uniquely impact older women in relation to BE;
Utilize information gathered in Aim 1 to guide development of a theory-driven, behavioral intervention tailored for older women with BE and pilot implementation to determine its feasibility;
Integrate work completed in Aims 1 and 2 within a career development program to advance the Dr. Kilpela’s knowledge and expertise in  clinical gerontology, women’s health in aging, and their integration in the context of BE.