EVIDENCE THAT DIETING CAUSES BINGE EATING
Risk factors for binge eating onset in adolescent girls: A 2-year prospective investigation.
- Because little is known about the predictors of binge eating (a risk factor for obesity), a set of putative risk factors for binge eating was investigated in a longitudinal study of adolescent girls. Results verified that binge eating predicted obesity onset. Elevated dieting, pressure to be thin, modelling of eating disturbances, appearance overvaluation, body dissatisfaction, depressive symptoms, emotional eating, body mass, and low self-esteem and social support predicted binge eating onset with 92% accuracy, Classification tree analysis revealed an interaction between appearance overvaluation, body mass, dieting, and depressive symptoms, suggesting qualitatively different pathways to binge eating and identifying subgroups at extreme risk for this outcome. Results support the assertion that these psychosocial and biological factors increase risk for binge eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
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Dieting and binging: A causal analysis.
- Discusses the association between binge eating and dieting and presents sequence data indicating that dieting usually precedes binge eating chronologically. The present authors propose that dieting causes binging by promoting the adoption of a cognitively regulated eating style, which is necessary if the physiological defence of body weight is to be overcome. The defence of body weight entails various metabolic adjustments that assist energy conservation, but the behavioural reaction of binge eating is best understood in cognitive, not physiological, terms. By supplanting physiological regulatory controls with cognitive controls, dieting makes the dieter vulnerable to disinhibition and consequent overeating. Implications for therapy and the societal consequences of regarding dieting as a solution to the problem of binging are discussed. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
EVIDENCE THAT DIETERS EAT MORE THAN NON-DIETERS
Control and loss of control over eating: An experimental investigation.
- The present study provides experimental evidence for the restraint theory's proposition of a causal link between restraint and disturbances in food-intake control. Twenty-seven obese women were randomly assigned to a diet group (high restraint), an exercise group (low restraint), or a control group for a 7-week group treatment program. On Weeks 4 and 6, all subjects participated individually in two laboratory sessions designed to investigate the regulation of food intake. In Session 1, food intake and appetite for food were assessed before and after a preload. In Session 2, food intake was assessed under stressful conditions. The results showed that the dieters ate more than either of the other two groups in all conditions. The possible mechanisms linking conscious regulation of eating with disturbances in control are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).
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