The Interrelationship of Eating Behaviors in Overweight and Obese Adults

Abstract

Objective: Nutrition is a complex behavior influenced by both homeostatic and non-homeostatic processes. Emotional and environmental triggers can affect non-homeostatic processes, leading to hedonistic, emotional, and night eating. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between hedonistic eating, emotional eating, and night eating syndrome in overweight and obese adults. Materials and Methods: A total of 562 overweight and obese adults participated in the study. The data were collected using a general information and anthropometric measurements form, the Hedonistic Eating Scale (HES), the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ), and the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ). Results: Results showed that 8.2% of participants had emotional eating syndrome, and 25.6% had night eating syndrome. Obese participants were found to have higher rates of emotional eating and night eating syndrome than overweight participants. There were positive correlations between EEQ with HES (r=0.468, p