Food-related behaviours among individuals with overweight/obesity and normal body weight

Abstract

BackgroundEmotional eating is a factor associated with a negative body image and other problematic eating behaviours. In this context little is known about differences between individuals with overweight and obesity and those with normal body weight. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the role of emotional eating in the relationship between the desire to consume chocolate and the wish to avoid social situations related to food and body exposures. For this purpose, we tested the direct, indirect and buffer effects. In addition, we used moderated mediation by introducing snacking into the model.MethodsThe study included 123 outpatients with excessive body weight and 123 individuals with normal weight. The mean of body mass index (BMI) in the first group was 30.19 kg/m2 (SD = 4.37) and, in the second, it was 23.02 kg/m2 (SD = 1.20). The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, the Attitudes to Chocolate Questionnaire and the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire were used.ResultsResults show that in all individuals, the greater emotional eating is, the greater the desire for chocolate consumption and avoidance of social situations related to food and body exposures are. In addition, the desire for chocolate consumption are positively associated with avoidance of social situations related to food and body exposures in both group. Among individuals with excessive and normal body weight, emotional eating is a significant mediator in the relationship between desire for chocolate consumption and avoidance of social situations related to food and body exposures. However, it does not moderate the relationship between these variables. Outcomes show that there is a significant model of moderated mediation of the link between social situation–avoidance related to food and body exposure and the desire to consume chocolate through emotional eating, moderated by snacking among individuals with normal body weight. A similar effect has not been discovered in the group with excessive body weight.ConclusionThe presented results show that among people with varied BMI categories, emotional eating is connected to craving chocolate and avoidance of social situations related to food and body exposure that plays only the role of mediation. In addition, snacking is crucial for this relationship among the group with normal body weight.

The impact of food-related behaviours and emotional functioning on body mass index in an adult sample

“…In addition, our set of observations is coherent with previous studies (mentioned in the Introduction section) which describe that: (1) negative emotional functioning may influence increase emotional eating [e.g., 8,12,20–24], (2) stress leads to more frequently snacking [ 19 ], (3) emotional eating contributes to increase BMI [e.g., 20,25], and (4) snacking may be positively associated with emotional eating [ 1 ]. Some of our results are not consistent with research highlighting the importance of negative emotions [ 19 ] and dysregulation of emotions [ 22 ] for snacking and the impact of snacking on BMI [ 26 ].…”

“…In addition, it is important to note that in the present study, we used a measure of snacking based on a single item. However, in our previous research using this single-item scale, snacking was a reliable predictor of similar eating behaviours [ 1 ]. In the future research to measure snacking, more comprehensive dietary measure could be used (e.g., Dietary History Questionnaire, the Automated Self-Administered 24-h Dietary Assessment Tool).…”

“…Maladaptive food-related behaviours (e.g., emotional eating, overeating, snacking, restrictive eating) are identified among people with normal weight and with excessive body weight (overweight/obesity) [1][2][3]. Interestingly, a lot of current research refers to the relationship between emotional state and eating behaviours [e.g., [4][5][6][7].…”

“…Whereas emotional dysregulation is the abnormality in emotional functioning, emotional eating is: (1) effect of emotional dysregulation (lack of adaptive skills to deal with emotions and stress, for example, through normalisation or acceptance of feelings) and (2) strategy to coping with negative emotions and stress by taking food without assessment hunger–satiety state (because emotional eating can reduce negative affect and distress) [ 2 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 16 – 18 ]. Interestingly, research has shown that an unhealthy eating behaviour such as snacking is important for emotional eating (pathway g) [ 1 ].…”

Facilitators and barriers to healthy eating in a worksite cafeteria: a qualitative study

“…Secondly, we did not stratify by BMI. Previous studies have shown that overweight and obese individuals might have different eating behaviors and perceptions about healthy eating, compared to healthy weight individuals [ 44 ]. However, participants in this study had a wide BMI range, representing all body composition categories.…”