Obese Subjects without Eating Disorders Experience Binge Episodes Also Independently of Emotional Eating and Personality Traits among University Students of Southern Italy.

Ines Villano,Marco La Marra,Sergio Chieffi,Marcellino Monda,Stefania Arena,Maria Gloria Gleijeses,Chiara Scuotto,Vincenzo Monda,Antonietta Messina,Giovanni Messina,Ciro Rosario Ilardi,Alessandro Iavarone

doi:10.3390/brainsci11091145

Ines Villano, Marco La Marra + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11091145

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Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that obesity is a growing public clinical issue involving both physical and psychological well-being. Nevertheless, the relationship between psychological features and weight gain is still unclear. Although emotional eating (EE) and personality traits are considered significant predictors of eating disorders, their role in obesity without eating disorders (OB-wed) is far from proven. The present study aimed at investigating the cumulative effect of EE and personality traits on overeating behavior in a sample of 266 university students (169 female; mean age = 21.85, SD = 2.39) stratified based on their body mass index (BMI; normal weight, overweight, obese). They were enrolled during free screening days promoted by the Human Dietetic and Sport Service of a Southern Italian university. The results show a psychological pattern of increasing overeating behavior and lower Self-Directedness combined with higher Sadness and Anger. However, OB-wed subjects overate regardless of this emotional/personological configuration.

Highlights

The World Health Organization formally recognized obesity as a growing public health problem in both developed and developing countries [1,2,3]
The present study aimed at assessing the cumulative effect of emotional eating (EE) and personality traits on overeating behavior in a young adult community sample stratified according to body mass index (BMI)
Our study detected the presence of a specific pattern characterized by lower SelfDirectedness and higher Sadness/Anger influencing the frequency of binge episodes

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization formally recognized obesity as a growing public health problem in both developed and developing countries [1,2,3]. Obesity is a multifactorial clinical issue resulting from the interaction between genetic, physiological, and psychological factors [4,5]. Higher body weight represents a risk factor for several chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction, dyslipidemias, vasculopathies, non-alcoholic liver steatosis, kidney disease, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, and some forms of cancer; it increases the mortality rate for all causes [6,7,8]. Clinical research has explored the relation between psychological features and obesity pathogenesis. Several studies investigated the role of emotional eating (EE) [10] and personality traits [11,12]

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