title: Triggers of eating in everyday life.
abstract: Understanding the triggers of eating in everyday life is crucial for the creation of interventions to promote healthy eating and to prevent overeating. Here, the proximal predictors of eating are explored in a natural setting. Research from laboratory settings suggests that restrained eaters overeat after experiencing anxiety, distraction, and the presence of positive or negative moods, but not hunger; whereas the only factor that triggers eating in unrestrained eaters is hunger. In this study, 137 female participants reported hourly for 2 days on these potential predictors and their eating using electronic diaries, allowing us to establish the relationships between these factors while participants went about their normal daily activities. The main outcome variables were the number of servings eaten and whether or not food was eaten. Contrary to findings from laboratory settings, in everyday life restrained eaters (1) did not overeat in response to anxiety; (2) ate less in the presence of positive or negative moods; and (3) ate more in response to hunger. The relationships between these factors and eating among unrestrained eaters were closer to those found in laboratory settings. In conclusion, predictors of eating must be studied in everyday life to develop successful interventions.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, United States. tomiyama@psych.ucla.edu
authors.forename: A Janet
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Tomiyama
authors.forename: Traci
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Comer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety; D015930:Diet Records; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D006963:Hyperphagia / Q000523:psychology; D016014:Linear Models
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1988;43(2):159-65
references.pmid: 3212051
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 1989 Aug;57(4):488-95
references.pmid: 2768608
references.citation: Int J Eat Disord. 2001 Jul;30(1):83-95
references.pmid: 11439412
references.citation: Health Psychol. 2003 Mar;22(2):189-98
references.pmid: 12683739
references.citation: Psychol Med. 2005 Nov;35(11):1553-62
references.pmid: 16219113
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 2000 Feb;68(1):95-102
references.pmid: 10710844
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 2004 Apr;72(2):341-8
references.pmid: 15065966
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1986 Mar;99(2):247-62
references.pmid: 3515384
references.citation: Int J Eat Disord. 2003 Nov;34(3):349-60
references.pmid: 12949927
references.citation: Annu Rev Psychol. 2003;54:579-616
references.pmid: 12499517
references.citation: Appetite. 2001 Apr;36(2):111-8
references.pmid: 11237346
references.citation: Int J Obes. 1989;13(2):223-34
references.pmid: 2744934
references.citation: Int J Eat Disord. 2002 Nov;32(3):352-61
references.pmid: 12210650
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 1975 Dec;84(6):66-72
references.pmid: 1194527
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 1985 Feb;94(1):78-85
references.pmid: 3980858
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 1982;20(2):113-21
references.pmid: 7073642
references.citation: Appetite. 2004 Apr;42(2):167-73
references.pmid: 15010181
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Aug;74(2):197-200
references.pmid: 11470720
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 2004 Feb;113(1):90-8
references.pmid: 14992661
references.citation: Nutrition. 2000 Oct;16(10):800-13
references.pmid: 11054584
references.citation: Pain. 2003 Jul;104(1-2):343-51
references.pmid: 12855344
references.citation: Int J Eat Disord. 2004 Sep;36(2):204-12
references.pmid: 15282690
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1994 May;115(3):444-64
references.pmid: 8016287
references.citation: Eat Behav. 2001 Winter;2(4):307-21
references.pmid: 15001025
references.citation: Res Publ Assoc Res Nerv Ment Dis. 1984;62:141-56
references.pmid: 6695111
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986 Jun;50(6):1253-60
references.pmid: 3723339
references.citation: Health Psychol. 1998 Jan;17(1):48-52
references.pmid: 9459069
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 1992 May;101(2):348-51
references.pmid: 1583231
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2000 Apr;78(4):753-63
references.pmid: 10794378
references.citation: J Youth Adolesc. 1989 Dec;18(6):511-30
references.pmid: 24272123