Autori: Pamfile,D; Popa-Velea,O.

Editorial: 14th Symposium AEP Section epidemiology and Social Psychiatry, 2008.

Rezumat:

QUALITATIVE ASPECTS OF EATING BEHAVIOR AT YOUNG NORMAL AND OVERWEIGHT ROMANIAN WOMEN

D.A. PAMFILE , O. POPA-VELEA

Study objectives:
Evidence of rising prevalence of obesity emphasizes the necessity of better understanding the psychological mechanisms of weight gain. Our study aims to compare some qualitative aspects of eating behavior, in young normal and overweight women.
Methods:
74 young women aged 18-26, were divided, according to BMI scores, in two categories: normal-weight (NW) (n = 41) and overweight (OW) (n = 33) and were subsequently evaluated regarding cognition and behavioral eating patterns by a Romanian version of the “Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire – R18”. This test assessed three aspects of eating behavior: cognitive restraint (CR), uncontrolled eating (UE) and emotional eating (EE).
Results:
In both groups, scores for Cognitive Restraint were high, with significant differences in favor of NW women (13,58 vs.12,00, p < 0,03). They had higher Qualitative Restraint scores (8,56 vs. 4,00, p < 0,001), whereas OW women had higher scores for Quantitative Restraint (5,01 vs. 8,00; p < 0,001). Uncontrolled eating was found to be significantly higher only in OW women (13,65 vs. 25,12; p < 0,001). Emotional eating was detected in both groups (6,00 vs. 7,87; ns), with NW women being more oriented towards healthy food (7,46 vs. 4,30; p < 0,001), and OW women towards unhealthy food (2,59 vs. 8,12; p < 0,001). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that uncontrolled eating, but also the type of cognitive restraint and emotional eating may be associated to excessive weight gain during adulthood. This could be helpful in targeting psychological intervention in obesity towards these mechanisms.

Cuvinte cheie: eating behavior, women psychology