Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Jasinska, Agnes J.
• Yasuda, Marie
• Burant, Charles F.
• Gregor, Nicolette
• Khatri, Sara
• Sweet, Matthew
• Falk, Emily B.

Titel

Impulsivity and inhibitory control deficits are associated with unhealthy eating in young adults

Ist Teil von

• Appetite, 2012-12, Vol.59 (3), p.738-747

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals Complete

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• ► Impulsivity and inhibitory control are implicated in unhealthy eating and obesity. ► We used structural equation modeling to test these relationships in 210 subjects. ► Heightened impulsivity and inhibition deficits predicted greater Emotional Eating. ► Heightened impulsivity predicted more External Eating and Unhealthy Food Choices. ► Some unhealthy eating measures, but not impulse control measures, predicted BMI. Heightened impulsivity and inefficient inhibitory control are increasingly recognized as risk factors for unhealthy eating and obesity but the underlying processes are not fully understood. We used structural equation modeling to investigate the relationships between impulsivity, inhibitory control, eating behavior, and body mass index (BMI) in 210 undergraduates who ranged from underweight to obese. We demonstrate that impulsivity and inhibitory control deficits are positively associated with several facets of unhealthy eating, including overeating in response to external food cues and in response to negative emotional states, and making food choices based on taste preferences without consideration of health value. We further show that such unhealthy eating is, for the most part, associated with increased BMI, with the exception of Restraint Eating, which is negatively associated with BMI. These results add to our understanding of the impact of individual differences in impulsivity and inhibitory control on key aspects of unhealthy eating and may have implications for the treatment and prevention of obesity.