Emotional eating is an important predictor of weight loss and weight
regain after weight loss. This two part study’s primary aim was to
explore changes in emotional eating in a general population of individuals
taking the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, with a secondary
aim to explore whether changes in mindfulness predicted changes in emotional
eating. Self-reported survey data exploring these questions were collected
before and after the intervention for two sequential studies (Study 1 and Study
2). While there were no control groups for either study, in both studies
emotional eating scores following the MBSR were significantly lower than scores
prior to taking the MBSR (p<0.001; p< 0.001) In Study 2, changes in
mindfulness were correlated with changes in emotional eating (r= 0.317,
p=0.004). These results suggest that MBSR may be an effective
intervention for emotional eating, and that further research is warranted to
examine effects on weight loss and maintenance.
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