title: Mindfulness-based interventions for obesity-related eating behaviours: a literature review.
abstract: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) targeting eating behaviours have gained popularity in recent years. A literature review was conducted to determine the effectiveness of MBIs for treating obesity-related eating behaviours, such as binge eating, emotional eating and external eating. A search protocol was conducted using the online databases Google Scholar, PubMed, PsycINFO and Ovid Healthstar. Papers were required to meet the following criteria to be included in this review: (i) describe a MBI or the use of mindfulness exercises as part of an intervention; (ii) include at least one obesity-related eating behaviour as an outcome; (iii) include quantitative outcomes; and (iv) be published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. A total of N = 21 papers were included in this review. Interventions used a variety of approaches to implement mindfulness training, including combined mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapies, mindfulness-based stress reduction, acceptance-based therapies, mindful eating programmes, and combinations of mindfulness exercises. Targeted eating behaviour outcomes included binge eating, emotional eating, external eating and dietary intake. Eighteen (86%) of the reviewed studies reported improvements in the targeted eating behaviours. Overall, the results of this first review on the topic support the efficacy of MBIs for changing obesity-related eating behaviours, specifically binge eating, emotional eating and external eating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spruijt-Metz
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Black
mesh_terms: D001521:Behavior Therapy; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D002032:Bulimia / Q000523:psychology; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D004644:Emotions; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D064866:Mindfulness; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Eating behaviour; literature review; mindfulness; obesity