Triggers of eating in everyday life.
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.
Tomiyama
A Janet
AJ
University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, United States. tomiyama@psych.ucla.edu
Mann
Traci
T
Comer
Lisa
L
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
Physiol Behav. 1988;43(2):159-65
3212051
J Consult Clin Psychol. 1989 Aug;57(4):488-95
2768608
Int J Eat Disord. 2001 Jul;30(1):83-95
11439412
Health Psychol. 2003 Mar;22(2):189-98
12683739
Psychol Med. 2005 Nov;35(11):1553-62
16219113
J Consult Clin Psychol. 2000 Feb;68(1):95-102
10710844
J Consult Clin Psychol. 2004 Apr;72(2):341-8
15065966
Psychol Bull. 1986 Mar;99(2):247-62
3515384
Int J Eat Disord. 2003 Nov;34(3):349-60
12949927
Annu Rev Psychol. 2003;54:579-616
12499517
Appetite. 2001 Apr;36(2):111-8
11237346
Int J Obes. 1989;13(2):223-34
2744934
Int J Eat Disord. 2002 Nov;32(3):352-61
12210650
J Abnorm Psychol. 1975 Dec;84(6):66-72
1194527
J Abnorm Psychol. 1985 Feb;94(1):78-85
3980858
Behav Res Ther. 1982;20(2):113-21
7073642
Appetite. 2004 Apr;42(2):167-73
15010181
Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Aug;74(2):197-200
11470720
J Abnorm Psychol. 2004 Feb;113(1):90-8
14992661
Nutrition. 2000 Oct;16(10):800-13
11054584
Pain. 2003 Jul;104(1-2):343-51
12855344
Int J Eat Disord. 2004 Sep;36(2):204-12
15282690
Psychol Bull. 1994 May;115(3):444-64
8016287
Eat Behav. 2001 Winter;2(4):307-21
15001025
Res Publ Assoc Res Nerv Ment Dis. 1984;62:141-56
6695111
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986 Jun;50(6):1253-60
3723339
Health Psychol. 1998 Jan;17(1):48-52
9459069
J Abnorm Psychol. 1992 May;101(2):348-51
1583231
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2000 Apr;78(4):753-63
10794378
J Youth Adolesc. 1989 Dec;18(6):511-30
24272123