Relationship Between Emotional Eating and Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Based on Body Weight in University Students and Individuals from Their Social Environment

TL;DR

This study explores how emotional eating relates to following the Mediterranean diet among university students and their social circle, finding no strong link.

Contribution

The study investigates the relationship between emotional eating and Mediterranean diet adherence in a specific population, revealing no significant association.

Findings

Higher emotional eating scores correlated with increased disinhibition and guilt, but not with Mediterranean diet adherence.

MEDI-LITE scores were uniformly low across all emotional eating groups.

Correlations between emotional eating and specific food groups were weak and inconsistent.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Emotional eating refers to the tendency to eat in response to emotions rather than physiological hunger and has been associated with changes in food choices and difficulties in dietary self-regulation. Whether emotional eating influences adherence to the Mediterranean diet remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between emotional eating and adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 245 adults completed the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ) and the MEDI-LITE questionnaire to assess adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Participants were classified into three emotional eating categories (NO EE, LEE, EE) and stratified by BMI (normal weight vs. overweight). Results: Higher EEQ scores were associated with greater disinhibition, stronger food preferences, and a higher sense of guilt in both BMI categories. However, adherence to the Mediterranean diet did not differ significantly across emotional eating groups, and overall MEDI-LITE scores were low in the entire sample. Correlations between emotional eating subscales and specific food groups were weak and did not show a consistent pattern. Conclusions: Emotional eating was associated with psychological and behavioral aspects of eating but was not related to adherence to the Mediterranean diet in this population. The uniformly low adherence to the Mediterranean diet may have attenuated potential associations. Further studies using more detailed dietary assessment tools and longitudinal designs are needed to clarify how emotional eating influences food choices over time.

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