
In women, unhealthy eating habits may worsen their moods, say researchers. In a study, college-age women who were concerned about their eating behaviors reported that moods worsened after bouts of disordered eating, said Kristin Heron, research associate at the Survey Research Center.
"There was little in the way of mood changes right before the unhealthy eating behaviors," said Heron. "However, negative mood was significantly higher after these behaviors."According to Heron, who worked with Joshua Smyth, professor of biobehavioral health, Stacey Scott, research associate in the Center for Healthy Aging, and Martin Sliwinski, professor of human development and family studies, people who experience disordered eating patterns may exhibit behaviors such as binge eating, loss of control over eating and food intake restriction. The researchers, who present their findings today (March 15) at the American Psychosomatic Society conference in Miami, detected little change in the participants' moods prior to unhealthy eating.
While negative mood was worse after disordered eating, a positive mood did not change either before or after any of the behaviors studied by the researchers.The researchers gathered data from participants in real-life situations. The team gave handheld computers to 131 women who had high levels of unhealthy eating habits and concerns about their body shape and weight, but did not have eating disorders.
Source: Eurekalert
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