Emotional Eating Prevalence and Correlates in Adolescents in the United States.
Child Obes
; 2024 Jul 03.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38959153
ABSTRACT
Background:
Adolescent obesity rates continue to rise. A better understanding of who engages in emotional eating, a maladaptive eating style, is needed. Despite emotional eating being a frequent research target, the prevalence of emotional eating in US adolescents is currently unknown.Methods:
Nationally representative adolescents (n = 1622, m = 14.48 years, 63.8% non-Hispanic White, 50.6% female) reported eating behaviors in the National Cancer Institute's Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) study. Frequencies and one-way ANOVAs were conducted to examine the rates of emotional eating across demographic and weight status groups. Correlations between emotional eating and dietary intake were examined.Results:
In total, 30% of adolescents engaged in emotional eating. Older adolescents (35% of 17-year-olds), females (39%), non-Hispanic White individuals (32%), and adolescents with obesity (44%) had significantly higher rates of emotional eating. Controlling for weight status, greater adolescent emotional eating was correlated with more frequent intake of energy-dense/nutrient-poor foods (ß = 0.10, p < 0.001), junk food (ß = 0.12, p < 0.001), and convenience foods (ß = 0.13, p < 0.001).Conclusions:
This study fills a critical gap by providing insight into how common adolescent emotional eating is and highlighting demographic factors that are associated with higher rates. Nearly a third of adolescents in the United States reported eating due to anxiety or sadness, with rates higher in older adolescents, girls, non-Hispanic White adolescents, and adolescents with obesity. Emotional eating was associated with consuming less healthy foods, which conveys immediate and long-term health risks. Practitioners can intervene with emotional eating to reduce obesity and comorbid health risks.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Child Obes
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States