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The Reasons
We Eat
Classifying the
influences on our eating habits is the subject of two recent
studies of two very different groups. One study focuses on overweight,
low-income, recently post-partum U.S. women, the other on middle-aged
European women. The categories identified in these studies are
also all supported by research in a wide range of populations
and provide a useful structure to help us evaluate our eating
habits and identify specific targets for attention.
Convenience (easy access to prepared
food and snacks) was a top link to overweight in the U.S. study,
and numerous studies demonstrate that access to food has a profound
influence on our eating. For example, when a dish of candy is
on someone’s desk, he or she eats more than when a lid hides
the candy or when it is on a nearby surface that requires getting
up to get the candy. |
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You can make food less readily
available by keeping serving bowls of food off the table, storing
sweets in cabinets rather than out on counters or tables and
limiting the amount of high-calorie processed snack foods you
bring home. Break habits of automatically buying cookies or snacks
when you stop at convenience stores, stand in the grocery checkout
lane or stop for coffee. Choose restaurants that offer reasonable
portions and healthy options rather than all-you-can-eat-buffets.
Emotional eating, a major link
to overweight and overeating in both recent studies, includes
eating when sad, bored, restless or anxious. In yet another study
, those who said they were most likely to eat in response to
emotions and least confident about being able to control this
eating were over 13 times more likely to be overweight or obese
than those who reported the least emotional eating and most confidence
about control over it.
Some research suggests eating
in response to negative emotions can be a comfort, a way of "swallowing"
feelings instead of expressing them or a distraction from worries
seemingly too great to handle. Depending on the type and degree
of difficulty people have with this, they might read about or
take classes in problem-solving or stress-avoidance, work with
a registered dietitian trained to include coping skills or seek
referral to a mental health professional.
Inappropriate Restraint was a
third major factor tied to excess weight in both of these recent
studies of women and weight. Restraint seems to have two different
faces, since it has been linked with lower calorie consumption
and lower weight, but also with weight gain and overweight.
The European study of middle-aged women adds important insight
by differentiating between the two types of restraint. Rigid
restraint involves strict eating rules and a downside that it
may promote binge eating once you break a rule. It was linked
with greater short-term weight loss, but after two years was
unrelated to weight. However, flexible restraint, a habit of
moderate self-regulation and compensation for occasional high-calorie
choices, was one of the strongest predictors of weight loss at
two years.
To encourage flexible restraint while avoiding over-rigid rules,
experts urge us to create stable eating habits to meet nutritional
and hunger needs without fostering a sense of deprivation. The
Center for Mindful Eating recommends mindful eating that honors
our food and our body’s hunger signals, portions that make
sense and attitudes free of depriving rules and unrealistic expectations.
A fourth major influence on weight
in the study of middle-aged women – confidence in one’s
ability to continue healthy physical activity – reminds
us that weight control involves more than our eating habits.
Factors other than those listed here, such as norms in your
friends and family, undoubtedly influence eating choices, too.
But these three factors provide a good start in finding one
or more influences likely to play an important role in your efforts
to eat healthfully. |
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