The term "disordered eating" refers to unusual and unhealthy eating habits that are driven by fear, stress, and even perfectionism. And as an Aug. 14 PsychCentral article by Rick Nauert, PhD, indicates, emotional eating falls into this category:

The connection between stress and eating likely has roots in brain chemistry. Faced with a real threat, the fight-or-flight reaction kicks in and suppresses appetite temporarily.

But when faced with persistent stress -- health problems, difficult relationships or too much work -- many people turn to high-fat, high-calorie foods for comfort. Using food as a coping strategy doesnt alleviate stress and will likely cause weight gain.

The tendency towards emotional eating can be overcome by learning to recognize the difference between true hunger and "hunger" thats triggered by stress. Getting unhealthy foods out of the house can help as well -- but if the problem persists, professional eating disorder help may be the best option.

Labels: emotional eating

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People who talk about eating disorders talk most often about disorders like anorexia and bulimia. But emotional eating disorders affect as many as 25-30% of Americans. And though the problem is often overlooked, the results can be just as devastating.

"When people eat for emotional reasons, they eat to manage and forget uncomfortable feelings, such as sadness, loneliness, grief, worthlessness, hopelessness, anger, anxiety, guilt and shame."

The problem is that eating to manage these emotions often just makes the emotions stronger. There are questions you can ask yourself, or a loved one, if you're concerned about an emotional eating issue. 

Labels: emotional eating

Posted By: Eating Disorders Help Guide 0 Comments

Texas A&M University has begun a two-year study of 250 overweight children in order to study is to understand why some children eat for emotional reasons and develop eating disorders.

One theory of eating disorders is that problems with the regulation of emotion leads some children to eat when they are not hungry as a way to cope with stress and negative emotions.

This study is funded by the National Institute of Health.
 

Labels: research, emotional eating, overweight

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