Emotional Eating and Poor General Lifestyle Prevalent among Obese Young Adults

Isabel Medina-Vera¹, Héctor Infante-Sierra², Alejandro Gabriel González-Garay¹, Martha Guevara-Cruz³, Carlos Pérez-Monter⁴ and Aurora Elizabeth Serralde-Zúñiga^5,

¹Depto. de Metodología de la Investigación, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, CP 04530 CDMX, Mexico

²Depto. de Medicina Interna, Hospital de Especialidades de la CDMX “Dr. Belisario Domínguez”, CP 09790 CDMX, Mexico

³Depto. de Fisiología de la Nutrición, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, CP 14080 CDMX, Mexico

⁴Depto. de Gastroenterología, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, CP 14080 CDMX, Mexico

⁵Servicio de Nutriología Clínica, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, CP 14080 CDMX, Mexico

Cite this paper:
Isabel Medina-Vera, Héctor Infante-Sierra, Alejandro Gabriel González-Garay, Martha Guevara-Cruz, Carlos Pérez-Monter and Aurora Elizabeth Serralde-Zúñiga. Emotional Eating and Poor General Lifestyle Prevalent among Obese Young Adults. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2019; 7(9):639-645. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-7-9-3

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the association between obesity and lifestyle factors, eating behaviors related to emotional eating, and body perception. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with individuals of both sexes by taking anthropometric, biochemical and clinical measurements. Questionnaires were used to evaluate lifestyle, eating habits, emotional eating behavior and self-perception of body image. The participants were stratified according to body mass index (BMI). Results: A total of 318 subjects were evaluated (44% women), with an average age of 34 ± 8 years. Regarding the lifestyle questionnaire, the normal BMI group obtained a higher score [ 78.5 (71-82)] than did the overweight [76 (69-80)] and obesity groups [73 (65-79)], (p=0.005); this finding indicated that the normal BMI group had a healthier lifestyle. Conversely, the questionnaire on emotional behaviors related to emotional eating showed that the normal BMI group had lower scores [7 (3-13)] than the overweight [8 (3-15)] and obesity groups [12 (5 -21)], (p=0.008). Being a very emotional eater significantly increases the risk of obesity (OR= 3.83 (95% CI, 1.67-8.7) (p=0.002). Overall, 51.1% of the participants had a self-perception that was incorrect according to their BMI. Conclusion: Individuals frequently have a misperception of their body shape. People with obesity had lifestyle factors that were less favorable for their health as well as higher rates of emotional eating, both of which are risk factors for obesity.

Keywords:
body perception lifestyle eating behaviors BMI emotional eating obesity

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	World Health Organization. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Geneva. 1998.
[2]	Andersen, C.J., Murphy, K.E., Fernandez, M.L., “Impact of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome on Immunity”, Adv Nutr 15; 7 (1): 66-75, January 2016
[3]	Stolar, M., “Metabolic syndrome: controversial but useful”, Cleve Clin Med, 74(3): 199-208, March 2007.
[4]	Castro, Rodríguez, P., Bellido, Guerrero, D., Pertega, Díaz, S., “Elaboración y validación de un nuevo cuestionario de hábitos alimentarios para pacientes con sobrepeso y obesidad”, Endocrinol Nutr 57(4):130-139, April 2010.
[5]	Young, L.R., Nestle, M., “The Contribution of Expanding Portion Sizes to the US Obesity Epidemic”, Am J Public Health 92 (2): 246-249. February 2002.
[6]	Vioque, J., Torres, A., Quiles, J., “Time spent watching television, sleep duration and obesity in adults living in Valencia, Spain”, Int J Obes 24 (12): 1683-8, December 2000.
[7]	Faith, M.S., Allison, D.B., Geliebter, A., Emotional eating and obesity: theoretical considerations and practical recommendations. In: Dalton’s, Editor. Obesity and weight control: the health professional's guide to understanding and treatment. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen, 1997, 439-465.
[8]	Oliver, G., Wardle, J., Gibson, E.L., “Stress and food choice: a laboratory study”, Psychosom Med 62 (6): 853-65, November-December 2000.
[9]	World Health Organization (WHO) Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic, Geneva, 1998.
[10]	Barlow, S.E., Dietz, W.H., “Obesity evaluation and treatment: expert committee recommendations”, Pediatrics 102 (3): e29-e29, September 1998.
[11]	Johnson-Taylor, W.L., Fisher, R.A., Hubbard, V.S., Starke-Reed, P., Eggers, P.S., “The change in weight perception of weight status among the overweight: comparison of NHANES III (1988–1994) and 1999–2004 NHANES”, Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act, 12; 5: 9, Febreuary 2008.
[12]	Mogre, V., Mwinlenna, P.P., Oladele, J., “Distorted self-perceived weight status and its associated factors among civil servants in Tamale, Ghana: a cross sectional study”, Archives Public Health 71: 30, November 2013.
[13]	Lohman, T.G., Roche, F.A., Martorell, R., Anthropometric standardization reference manual, Human Kinetics Books, Champaign, IL., 1998.
[14]	Eckel, R.H., Alberti, K.G., Grundy, S.M., Zimmet, P.Z., “The metabolic syndrome”, Lancet, 375 (9710): 181-3. January 2010.
[15]	National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III), “Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III) final report”, Circulation 106 (25): 3143-421, December 2002.
[16]	International Diabetes Federation (2006) The IDF consensus worldwide definition of the metabolic syndrome Part 1. https://www.idf.org/e-library/consensus-statements/60-idfconsensus-worldwide-definitionof-the-metabolic- syndrome.html. Accessed 2 Nov 2018
[17]	Wilson, D.M., Ciliska, D., “Lifestyle assessment: development and use of the FANTASTIC Checklist”, Can Fam Physician, 30: 1863-1864, September 1984.
[18]	López-Carmona, J.M., Rodríguez-Moctezuma, R., Munguía-Miranda, C., Hernández-Santiago, J.L., Casas de la Torre, E., “Validez y fiabilidad del instrumento «FANTASTICO» para medir el estilo de vida en pacientes mexicanos con hipertensión arterial”, Aten Primaria 26 (8): 542-549, 2000.
[19]	Pardo, A., Ruíz, M., Jódar, E., Garrido, J., Rosendo, J.M., Usán, L.A., “Development of a questionnaire for the assessment and quantification of overweight and obesity related lifestyles”, Nutr Hosp 19: 99-109, March-April 2004
[20]	Garaulet, M., Canteras, M., Morales, E., López-Guimera, G., Sánchez-Carracedo, D., Corbalán-Tutau, M.D., “Validation of a questionnaire on emotional eating for use in cases of obesity; the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ)”, Nutr Hosp, 27 (2): 645-651, March-April 2012.
[21]	Framson, C., Kristal, A.R., Schenk, J.M., Littman, A.J., Zeliadt, S., Benitez, D., “Development and validation of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire”, J Am Diet Assoc, 109 (8): 1439-44, August 2009.
[22]	Stunkard, A.J., Sorensen, T., Schlusinger, F., Use of the Danish Adoption Register for the study of obesity and thinness. In: Kety, S.S., Rowland, L.P., Sidman, R.L., Matthysse, S.W., (ed.). The Genetics of neurological and phychiactric disorders. Raven Press; New York, 1983, 115–120.
[23]	Bulik, C.M., Wade, T.D., Heath, A.C., Martin, N.G., Stunkard, A.J., Eaves, L.J., “Relating body mass index to figural stimuli: population-based normative data for Caucasians”, Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 25(10):1517-24, October 2001.
[24]	Baile, J., Raich, R., Garrido, E., “Evaluación de la insatisfacción corporal en adolescentes: efecto de administración de una escala”, Anales de psicología, 10 (2): 187-192, December 2003.
[25]	Beavers, A.S., Lounsbury, J.W., Richards, J.K., Huck, S.W., Skolits, G.J., Esquivel, S.L., “Practical Considerations for Using Exploratory Factor Analysis in Educational Research”, Practical Assessment Research & Evaluation, 18 (6): 1-13, March 2013.
[26]	Moreno-San Pedro, E., Nieto, J.G., “El modelo de creencias de salud: revisión teórica, consideración crítica y propuesta alternativa. I: hacia un análisis funcional de las creencias en salud”, Rev Int Psicol Ter Psicol 3(1): 91-109, 2003.
[27]	Harris, C.V., Bradlyn, A.S., Coffman, J., Gunel, E., Cottrell, L., “BMI-based body size guides for women and men: development and validation of a novel pictorial method to assess weight-related concepts”, Int J Obes 32(2): 336-42, February 2008.
[28]	Romano, E., Haynes, A., Robinson, E., “Weight Perception, Weight Stigma Concerns, and Overeating”, Obesity 26(8):1365-1371, August 2018.
[29]	Lydecker, J.A., Galbraith, K., Ivezaj, V., White, M.A, Barnes, R.D., Roberto, C.A., Grillo, C.M., “Words will never hurt me? Preferred terms for describing obesity and binge eating”, Int J Clin Pract 70: 682-690, August 2016.
[30]	Hopkins, C.M., Bennett, G.G., “Weight-Related Terms Differentially Affect Self-Efficacy and Perception of Obesity”, Obesity 26: 1405-1411, September 2018.
[31]	Uribe-Carvajal, R., Jiménez-Aguilar, A., Morales-Ruan, M.C., Salazar-Coronel, A.A., Shamah-Levy, T., “Percepción del peso corporal y de la probabilidad de desarrollar obesidad en adultos mexicanos”, Salud Publica Mex 60: 254-262, May-June 2018.