Intuitive eating, objective weight status and physical indicators of health

As intuitive eating is a weight-neutral approach to health promotion for those overweight or obese, Keirns & Hawkins (2019) decided to assess intuitive eating (IE) interacts with physical health indicators, independent of weight status, in a group of adults. The sample included 248 adults of all weight categories (18.2-55.3 kg m-2), and the health indicators were blood pressure and fasting blood glucose concentrations. After controlling for BMI, no strong correlations were found between intuitive eating and systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, or fasting glucose levels. Moreover, all effect sizes were either small or below. A sensitivity analysis t-test uncovered the significantly lower diastolic blood pressure in high intuitive eaters when compared to low intuitive eaters, but the analysis of covariance did not agree (no variation in diastolic BP between the groups). There were no marked differences in systolic BP or fasting glucose between the low and high intuitive eaters either. This study therefore did not identify any unique relationships between intuitive eating and physical health, and the associations observed between these variables were accounted for by BMI and demographic factors. [NPID: intuitive eating, internal hunger, satiety cues, obesity, high blood pressure, hypertension, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose levels]

Year: 2019

Reference: Keirns, N. G., & Hawkins, M. (2019). Intuitive eating, objective weight status and physical indicators of health. Obesity science & practice, 5(5), 408–415. https://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.359

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