Dietary restraint: what's the harm? A review of the relationship between dietary restraint, weight trajectory and the development of eating pathology

Abstract

Dietary restraint has historically been implicated as a risk factor for the development of eating pathology. Despite existing findings, recent research suggests that many individuals are capable of practicing dietary restraint without negative effects. In order to successfully incorporate the positive aspects of dietary restraint into interventions for healthy weight management, a nuanced examination of the relationship between dietary restraint and resulting eating patterns is necessary. Accordingly, the current review seeks to clarify the existing literature with regard to dietary restraint. First, this review examines the construct of dietary restraint and differentiates dietary restraint from related constructs, such as weight loss dieting. Second, it identifies situations in which dietary restraint has been linked with positive outcomes, such as healthy weight management and prevention of eating pathology. Altogether, it appears that dietary restraint can prove a beneficial strategy for those attempting to control their weight, as it does not relate to increased levels of eating pathology when practiced as part of a well-validated weight management programme.

Treatment of obesity, with a dietary component, and eating disorder risk in children and adolescents: A systematic review with meta‐analysis

“…However, these are often encouraged or are a necessary component of obesity treatment. It is important to note that dietary restraint, often used as a measure of dieting practice in prospective cohort studies, may not reflect actual energy restriction . Consequently, the energy restriction itself may not increase eating pathology .…”

Social appearance anxiety and dietary restraint as mediators between perfectionism and binge eating: A six month three wave longitudinal study

“…Importantly, some researchers have shown that dietary restraint may lead to binge eating, whereas other studies have found insignificant effects when investigating the relationship between dietary restraint and binge eating (De Young et al, 2014; Elran-Barak et al, 2015; Goldschmidt, Wall, Loth, Le Grange, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2012; Mackinnon et al, 2011; Schaumberg, Anderson, Anderson, Reilly, & Gorrell, 2016). Although these conflicting findings may be due to methodological differences, they might also be contributed to the possibility of a third variable (Stice, 2002).…”

Baseline Dietary Restraint Predicts Negative Treatment Outcomes after 12 Months in Children and Adolescents with Obesity Participating in a Lifestyle Intervention

“…It is important to note that measures of dietary restraint fail to predict an actual lower caloric intake and thus are not valid measures of caloric restriction [23]. Instead, dietary restraint refers to the cognitive effort to restrict food, regardless of the behavioral outcome of this effort [24]. The items of the dietary restraint scale of the EPI-C [22] were more closely aligned with the rigid control dimension of dietary restraint (i.e., all-or-nothing approach to dieting) rather than the flexible control dimension (i.e., a more graduated approach to dieting, in which “fattening” foods are eaten in limited quantities without the feeling of guilt) [25].…”

“…In the study of Schacht et al [22], dietary restraint was the only dimension that was associated with a higher BMI. Alternatively, increases in dietary restraint may represent an attempt to control weight in response to weight gain [24]. Of note, there is no study available that has compared the EPI-C dietary restraint scale with other measures of dietary restraint.…”