Exploring the Impact of Emotional Eating Among University Students: A Literature Review.

Background/objectives: Emotional eating has been considered as a trend to consume energy concentrated and tasty foods in response to adverse emotions. Emotional eating may harmfully influence physical and mental health among university students, worsening their daily quality of life and their academic performance. The aim of the present study is to critically summarize and analyze the currently available clinical data concerning the impact of emotional eating among university students.

Methods: Comprehensive exploration of the currently available scientific literature was performed in the most precise scientific databases, utilizing relevant and representative keywords.

Results: More than a few interrelationships were found between emotional eating and body mass index, physical activity, depression, anxiety, stress, social media overuse, nutritional behaviors, and COVID-19 lockdown concerning university students.

Conclusions: The currently available clinical studies support evidence that there are significant intercorrelations between emotional eating and several aspects of physical and mental health of university students. However, most of them have a cross-sectional design that cannot establish causality effects. In this respect, prospective surveys are strongly required to delineate the impact of emotional eating in the daily life of university students.