Obesity has been under the microscope so to speak for over 50 years. Study upon study has added to the stockpile of information attempting to define, and understand the issue. One obvious connection that is often included in obesity studies is overeating. Early studies indicated that the reason for overeating lay solely at the door of anxiety.
Since these early study conclusions…many more studies have been undertaken and completed. While original research indicated that anxiety was the reason for overeating…it isn’t quite true. Anxiety is no longer accepted as the sole reason for overeating. The problem is much wider than that. There are more than one ways to fall victim to the issue.
Further studies conducted throughout the last several decades have led experts to believe that rather than anxiety…it is emotion that rules when it comes to overeating. At least this is true when the subjects being studied are obese individuals. This connection between emotion and overeating is apparent in both obese individuals seeking treatment and obese individuals not seeking treatment.
Overeating amongst the obese carries some definite characteristics. These defining characteristics include: a lack of real hunger, secrecy, high calorie/high fat “favorite” foods, etc. The “emotion” leading up to or causing the overeating vary from individual to individual. But they are often found amongst the following list: frustration, depression, stress, anger, boredom, loneliness, and anxiety.
Emotional distress seems to trigger overeating in obese individuals more than normal weight individuals according to study findings. Although coming up with accurate conclusions is difficult considering it is difficult to come up with an accurate “normal weight” control group for any obesity study. Studies typically utilize college students as their control participants so the socioeconomic variables are very limited when comparing the control group to an actual random selection of “normal weight” individuals.
New studies continue to be undertaken in order to further understand the relationship between obesity and overeating. Emotional dependency on food is becoming more clearly defined with each additional study.
















