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Emotional Eating and Weight Status in Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Christine A. Limbers

    (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97334, Waco, TX 76798, USA)

  • Emma Summers

    (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97334, Waco, TX 76798, USA)

Abstract

Background: Despite evidence that emotional eating is associated with weight gain in adults, less is known about this association in adolescents. The purpose of the current study was to conduct a systematic review to assess the association between emotional eating and weight status in adolescents. This study also sought to describe existing measures of emotional eating in adolescents and explore weight-loss interventions that assessed emotional eating in relation to weight status in this population. Methods: Two independent reviewers searched the database PubMed for published or in press peer-reviewed studies that assessed the association between emotional eating and weight status in adolescents aged 12 to 19 years. Studies were excluded from this review if they were not written in the English language, did not include a measure of emotional eating, or were a dissertation study. Results: A total of 13 studies met full inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review. Of the six longitudinal studies in the review, only one found a prospective association between emotional eating and weight status. The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire was the most widely used measure of emotional eating in the systematic review (n = 6; 46.2%). The one intervention study included in this review found that baseline emotional eating was not associated with weight outcomes 2 years following gastric bypass surgery in obese Swedish adolescents (13–18 years). Conclusions: While there were some inconsistent findings across the studies included in this review, taken as a whole, the results largely do not support an association between emotional eating and elevated weight status or reduced weight loss in adolescents.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine A. Limbers & Emma Summers, 2021. "Emotional Eating and Weight Status in Adolescents: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-10, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:991-:d:485599
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jo Smith & Xiao Qi Ang & Emma L. Giles & Gemma Traviss-Turner, 2023. "Emotional Eating Interventions for Adults Living with Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-22, February.
    2. Andrea Calderón García & Ana Alaminos-Torres & Roberto Pedrero Tomé & Consuelo Prado Martínez & Jesús Román Martínez Álvarez & Antonio Villarino Marín & María Dolores Marrodán Serrano, 2023. "Eating Behavior and Obesity in a Sample of Spanish Schoolchildren," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-13, February.
    3. Nicolás Libuy & David Church & George Ploubidis & Emla Fitzsimons, 2024. "Fast food proximity and weight gain in childhood and adolescence: Evidence from Great Britain," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 449-465, March.

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