Interoceptive sensibility, intuitive eating, binge, and disordered eating behavior among individuals with obesity: A comparative study with the general population

Abstract

The present study assessed the links between interoceptive sensibility, binge, disordered (emotional, restrained, and external) and intuitive eating among individuals with obesity ( n = 57) and normal weight ( n = 29). Individuals with obesity presented lower “attention regulation,” “body-listening,” and “trusting” interoceptive dimensions. When age was controlled, group differences on “trusting” remained significant. Individuals with obesity showed lower intuitive eating, higher emotional, and binge eating compared to controls. Higher “body listening,” “eating for physical rather than emotional reasons,” and “reliance on hunger and satiety cues” predicted lower binge eating whereas “external eating” predicted higher binge eating among individuals with obesity. Eating for physical reasons and reliance on hunger and satiety had protective mediating roles in the relationship between external and binge eating in both groups. Interoceptive sensibility and intuitive eating should conjointly serve as psychotherapeutic targets for disordered eating, obesity, and weight management.