Mindful eating and change in depressive symptoms: Mediation by psychological eating styles.

Earlier cross-sectional research showed that a higher level of mindful eating is associated with less depression. This study investigated associations of attentive mindful eating with change in depressive symptoms, as well as mediation by psychological eating styles, in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (n = 946). The mindful eating domains Focused Eating, Eating in response to Hunger and Satiety Cues, Eating with Awareness and Eating without Distraction were measured by the Mindful Eating Behavior Scale. Three-year change in depressive symptoms was measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Emotional, external and restrained eating were measured by the 20-item version of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. Higher baseline scores on Focused Eating, Eating with Awareness and Eating without Distraction were associated with a 3-year decrease in depressive symptoms. Eating in response to Hunger and Satiety Cues was not associated with a change in depressive symptoms. Multiple mediation models showed mediation by external eating for the domains Eating with Awareness, Eating without Distraction, and Eating in response to Hunger and Satiety Cues, but no mediation by emotional and restrained eating. No mediation by the eating styles was found for Focused Eating. In this study, higher scores on three mindful eating domains were associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms. Mediation analyses suggest that three domains are associated with depression through external eating.

Can mindful eating buffer against the influence of neighbourhood fast food exposure on unhealthy food intake?

A food-abundant environment is associated with unhealthy food intake, but not everyone is affected to the same degree. Mindful eating, which is eating with attention and awareness, has been associated with less external eating and less food cravings, and could act as a protective factor against influences from the food environment. The current study aimed to investigate whether the association between exposure to fast-food around the home and unhealthy food intake was moderated by mindful eating. The study was conducted in 1086 Dutch adults of 55 years and older of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam study. The mindful eating domains (Mindful Eating Behavior Scale) were tested as moderating variables in the linear regression models with absolute and relative density of fast-food outlets in the neighbourhood (400, 800 and 1600m) as independent variables and unhealthy food intake (snacks (g/d)) and saturated fat as a percentage of total energy intake (en%)) as dependent variable. Bootstrapping with 5000 samples using the pick-a-point approach showed that after adjustments, only two out of 48 interactions terms were statistically significant: Eating with Awareness (EwA) and Eating without Distraction (EwD) moderated the positive association between the relative density of fast-food outlets and saturated fat (en%) respectively in a buffer of 800m (interaction EwA: B = -0.84, 95% CI [-1.46; -0.22]) and in a buffer of 1600m (interaction EwD: B = -0.82, 95% CI [-1.61; -0.04]). The results of the current study indicate that mindful eating cannot buffer against the influence of the fast-food abundant environment on unhealthy food intake. Future research is needed to confirm these findings, for example in younger populations.

Associations of mindful eating domains with depressive symptoms and depression in three European countries.

OBJECTIVE: To examine associations of mindful eating domains with depressive symptoms and depression in three European countries. Moderation by change in appetite-with increased appetite as marker for depression with atypical features - was also tested. METHODS: Data were collected in Denmark (n = 1522), Spain (n = 1512) and the Netherlands (n = 1439). Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses segregated by country were used to test associations of four mindful eating domains (Mindful Eating Behaviour Scale; MEBS) with depressive symptoms (continuous score on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; CES-D) and depression (score above the CES-D cut-off value, and/or use of antidepressants, and/or psychological treatment). Moderation by change in appetite was tested with bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. RESULTS: The domains Focused Eating, Eating with Awareness and Eating without Distraction were significantly negatively associated with depressive symptoms and depression in all three countries (e.g. Focused Eating Denmark: B = - 0.71, 95% CI: - 0.87, - 0.54; OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.86, 0.93). The domain Hunger and Satiety Cues (only measured in the Netherlands) was significantly positively associated with depressive symptoms in the adjusted models (B = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.16), but not with depression (OR = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.05). These associations were found for both people with and without increased appetite. LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design, which makes it impossible to draw causal conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates that higher scores on three mindful eating domains are consistently associated with a lower level of depressive symptoms and a lower likelihood of having depression in three European countries.