Nutrients · 9 authors, 6 centres
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This narrative review of clinical studies from 2013-2023 finds consistent associations between emotional eating and overweight/obesity, depression, anxiety/stress, and unhealthy dietary patterns. A major limitation is that most included studies are cross-sectional, which prevents conclusions about causality.
This narrative review synthesizes clinical evidence from 2013-2023 on the interrelationships among emotional eating and overweight/obesity, depression, anxiety/stress, and dietary patterns. The methods included searching scientific databases for longitudinal, cross-sectional, and prospective clinical studies using validated emotional eating questionnaires. The results consistently show that emotional eating is positively associated with higher BMI and obesity risk, with multiple studies reporting higher prevalence or scores of emotional eating in overweight and obese individuals. Furthermore, emotional eating is linked to depression and anxiety/stress symptoms, with some evidence suggesting it may mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and weight gain, particularly in women. Regarding dietary patterns, emotional eating is associated with the consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods like snacks and fast food, and may inversely relate to adherence to healthy diets like the Mediterranean diet. Key limitations across the reviewed literature include the predominance of cross-sectional designs, which preclude causal inferences, reliance on self-reported data, and heterogeneity in assessment tools. Implications suggest a need for future prospective studies and interventions targeting emotion regulation and stress management in emotional eaters.
