Predictors of Successful Weight Control: Cross-Cultural Moderators of Treatment Outcomes

Given the heterogeneity of effect sizes within the population for any treatment, identifying moderators of outcomes is critical [1]. In weight management programs, there is a high individual variability in terms of weight loss and an overall modest success [2]. Some people will adopt and sustain attitudes and behaviors associated with weight loss, while others won’t [3]. To predict weight loss outcome just from the subject’s baseline information would be very valuable [4,5]. It would allow to: - Better match between treatments and individuals - Identify the participants with less probability of success (or potential dropouts) in a given treatment and direct them to alternative therapies - Target limited resources to those most likely to succeed - Increase cost-effectiveness and improve success rates of the programs Few studies have been dedicated to describe baseline predictors of treatment success. The Healthy Weight for Life (USA) study is one of the few. Its findings are now being cross-validated in Portuguese samples. This paper describes these cross-cultural comparisons.

Contributo do enoturismo para o desenvolvimento de regiões do interior: o caso da rota dos vinhos do alentejo

The wine industry and its relationship with the tourism sector, as well as with the motivations, characteristics, and behaviors wine tourists are relevant for the valuable creation. Some scholars have identified distinct wine tourism market segments based on a supply-side analysis of certain wine-producing tourism destinations. Subsequent studies used cluster analysis to prove that specific wine tourism market segments can be identified in the Alentejo Wine Route. The significant dimension and economical importance of wine tourism in the Alentejo region point towards the need for more dynamic planning and branding efforts. Such efforts will no doubt place the Alentejo Wine Region on par with some of the foremost wine-producing regions in the world.