Dietary correlates of emotional eating in adolescence

Abstract

To better understand the relation between emotional eating and dietary choices, dietary correlates of emotional eating were investigated in an adolescent sample. Participants were 617 predominantly Latino middle school students from seven schools in Los Angeles County. Analyses of cross-sectional data revealed that emotional eating was associated with increased frequency of intake of sweet high energy-dense foods, such as cake and ice cream, salty high energy-dense foods like chips, and soda. Gender stratified analyses revealed an association between emotional eating and more frequent fruit and vegetable intake in boys only, and a positive association between emotional eating and salty high energy-dense intake in both boys and girls. These data support previous literature that reports a preference for high energy-dense food in emotional eating, and shows that this association may be generalizable to Latino youth. Considering that emotional eating may lead to overeating because it often takes place in the absence of hunger, it may be appropriate to develop interventions to teach youth healthier substitutions and regulate mood by means other than eating in order to reduce risk for obesity, especially in high risk populations, such as Latinos.