Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Emotional eating is associated with weight loss success among adults enrolled in a weight loss program

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Journal of Behavioral Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To examine associations between decreased emotional eating and weight loss success; and whether participation in a behavioral weight loss intervention was associated with a greater reduction in emotional eating over time compared to usual care. Secondary data analysis of a randomized controlled trial conducted at two university medical centers with 227 overweight adults with diabetes. Logistic and standard regression analyses examined associations between emotional eating change and weight loss success (i.e., weight loss of ≥7 % of body weight and decrease in BMI). After 6 months of intervention, decreased emotional eating was associated with greater odds of weight loss success (p = .05). The odds of weight loss success for subjects with decreased emotional eating at 12 months were 1.70 times higher than for subjects with increased emotional eating. No differences in change in emotional eating were found between subjects in the behavioral weight loss intervention and usual care. Strategies to reduce emotional eating may be useful to promote greater weight loss among overweight adults with diabetes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Blair, A. J., Lewis, V. J., & Booth, D. A. (1990). Does emotional eating interfere with success in attempts at weight control? Appetite, 15(2), 151–157.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Camilleri, G. M., Méjean, C., Kesse-Guyot, E., Andreeva, V. A., Bellisle, F., Hercberg, S., & Péneau, S. (2014). The associations between emotional eating and consumption of energy-dense snack foods are modified by sex and depressive symptomatology. The Journal of Nutrition, 144, 1264–1273.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Canetti, L., Berry, E. M., & Elizur, Y. (2009). Psychosocial predictors of weight loss and psychological adjustment following bariatric surgery and a weight-loss program: The mediating role of emotional eating. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 42(2), 109–117.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Elfhag, K., & Rössner, S. (2005). Who succeeds in maintaining weight loss? A conceptual review of factors associated with weight loss maintenance and weight regain. Obesity Reviews, 6(1), 67–85.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Ogden, C. L. (2012). Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults, 1999–2010. JAMA, 307(5), 491–497.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Forman, E. M., Butryn, M. L., Hoffman, K. L., & Herbert, J. D. (2009). An open trial of an acceptance-based behavioral intervention for weight loss. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16(2), 223–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldbacher, E., La Grotte, C., Komaroff, E., Vander Veur, S., & Foster, G. D. (2015). An initial evaluation of a weight loss intervention for individuals who engage in emotional eating. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 39, 139–150.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greeno, C. G., & Wing, R. R. (1994). Stress-induced eating. Psychological Bulletin, 115(3), 444.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Karlsson, J., Persson, L. O., Sjöström, L., & Sullivan, M. (2000). Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) in obese men and women. Results from the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders: Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 24(12), 1715–1725.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, C., & Siegrist, M. (2015). Ambivalence toward palatable food and emotional eating predict weight fluctuations. Results of a longitudinal study with four waves. Appetite, 5, 138–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knowler, W. C., Barrett-Connor, E., Fowler, S. E., et al. (2002). Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. The New England Journal of Medicine, 346(6), 393–403.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Look AHEAD Research Group. (2003). Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes): Design and methods for a clinical trial of weight loss for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes. Controlled Clinical Trials, 24(5), 610–628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Look AHEAD Research Group. (2006). The Look AHEAD study: A description of the lifestyle intervention and the evidence supporting it. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 14(5), 737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, N. T., Nguyen, X. M. T., Lane, J., & Wang, P. (2011). Relationship between obesity and diabetes in a US adult population: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2006. Obesity Surgery, 21(3), 351–355.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Niemeier, H. M., Phelan, S., Fava, J. L., & Wing, R. R. (2007). Internal disinhibition predicts weight regain following weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Obesity, 15(10), 2485–2494.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, D. B., Jones, F., Conner, M., McMillan, B., & Ferguson, E. (2008). Effects of daily hassles and eating style on eating behavior. Health Psychology, 27(1S), S20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, G., Wardle, J., & Gibson, E. L. (2000). Stress and food choice: A laboratory study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 62(6), 853–865.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Péneau, S., Ménard, E., Méjean, C., Bellisle, F., & Hercberg, S. (2013). Sex and dieting modify the association between emotional eating and weight status. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 97(6), 1307–1313.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rock, C. L., Flatt, S. W., Pakiz, B., Taylor, K. S., Leone, A. F., Brelje, K., et al. (2014). Weight loss, glycemic control, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in response to differential diet composition in a weight loss program in type 2 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial. Diabetes Care, 37(6), 1573–1580.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Roosen, M. A., Safer, D., Adler, S., Cebolla, A., & Van Strien, T. (2012). Group dialectical behavior therapy adapted for obese emotional eaters; a pilot study. Nutrición Hospitalaria, 27(4), 1141–1147.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stunkard, A. J., & Messick, S. (1985). The three-factor eating questionnaire to measure dietary restraint, disinhibition and hunger. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 29(1), 71–83.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tapper, K., Shaw, C., Ilsley, J., Hill, A. J., Bond, F. W., & Moore, L. (2009). Exploratory randomised controlled trial of a mindfulness-based weight loss intervention for women. Appetite, 52(2), 396–404.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wadden, T. A., West, D. S., Neiberg, R. H., et al. (2009). One-year weight losses in the Look AHEAD study: Factors associated with success. Obesity, 17(4), 713–722.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Jenny Craig, Inc. (Carlsbad, California). Funding was provided through a clinical trial contract to the coordinating center (School of Medicine, UCSD). By contractual agreement, scientists at UCSD and the Health Partners Institute have responsibility and independence regarding data management, analysis, and publication. The sponsor contributed to the development of the design and protocol through discussions with the investigators during the development phase of the study, and the sponsor provided program activities and materials, including prepackaged foods, to subjects assigned to the commercial weight loss program study groups. The funding sponsor had no role in the conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; preparation, review or approval of the manuscript (except for verifying the specific weight loss program activities that comprised the intervention); and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA

    Abby Braden

  2. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Shirley W. Flatt, David Strong & Cheryl L. Rock

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Kerri N. Boutelle

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Kerri N. Boutelle

  5. HealthPartners Institute, Bloomington, MN, USA

    Nancy E. Sherwood

Authors
  1. Abby Braden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shirley W. Flatt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kerri N. Boutelle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David Strong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Nancy E. Sherwood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Cheryl L. Rock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abby Braden.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Abby Braden, Shirley W. Flatt, Kerri N. Boutelle, David Strong, Nancy E. Sherwood and Cheryl L. Rock declares that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and animal rights and Informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Braden, A., Flatt, S.W., Boutelle, K.N. et al. Emotional eating is associated with weight loss success among adults enrolled in a weight loss program. J Behav Med 39, 727–732 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-016-9728-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-016-9728-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation