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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 Mar;31(2):303-319.
doi: 10.1002/erv.2958. Epub 2022 Nov 17.

'Mindful eating' for reducing emotional eating in patients with overweight or obesity in primary care settings: A randomized controlled trial

Héctor Morillo-Sarto  1   2 , Yolanda López-Del-Hoyo  1   2   3 , Adrián Pérez-Aranda  3   4   5 , Marta Modrego-Alarcón  1   2   3 , Alberto Barceló-Soler  3   6 , Luis Borao  1   2 , Marta Puebla-Guedea  1   2   3 , Marcelo Demarzo  7   8 , Javier García-Campayo  1   2   3 , Jesús Montero-Marin  5   8
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

'Mindful eating' for reducing emotional eating in patients with overweight or obesity in primary care settings: A randomized controlled trial

Héctor Morillo-Sarto et al. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to analyse the efficacy of a 'mindful eating' programme for reducing emotional eating in patients with overweight or obesity.

Method: A cluster randomized controlled trial (reg. NCT03927534) was conducted with 76 participants with overweight/obesity who were assigned to 'mindful eating' (7 weeks) + treatment as usual (TAU), or to TAU alone. They were assessed at baseline, posttreatment and 12-month follow-up. The main outcome was 'emotional eating' (Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, DEBQ); other eating behaviours were also assessed along with psychological and physiological variables.

Results: 'Mindful eating' + TAU reduced emotional eating both at posttreatment (B = -0.27; p = 0.006; d = 0.35) and follow-up (B = -0.53; p < 0.001; d = 0.69) compared to the control group (TAU alone). 'External eating' (DEBQ) was also significantly improved by the intervention at both timepoints. Significant effects at follow-up were observed for some secondary outcomes related to bulimic behaviours, mindful eating, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Weight and other physiological parameters were not significantly affected by 'mindful eating' + TAU.

Conclusions: These findings support the efficacy of the 'mindful eating' + TAU programme for reducing emotional and external eating, along with some other secondary measures, but no significant changes in weight reduction were observed.

Keywords: RCT; emotional eating; mindful eating; mindfulness; obesity; overweight.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow chart of participants in the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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