Women who accept their bodies more likely to eat healthy

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Public release date: 11-Aug-2006

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/osu-wwa080806.php

Contact: Tylka

Tylka.2@...

Ohio State University

Women who accept their bodies more likely to eat healthy

Columbus, Ohio – Women who accept their bodies the way they are seem to

be more likely to follow principles of healthy eating, new research shows.

The findings suggest that women's typical reasons for changing their

diet – a dissatisfaction with their bodies – may backfire, said

Tylka, co-author of the studies and assistant professor of psychology at

Ohio State University 's n campus.

" The message that women often hear is that some degree of body

dissatisfaction is healthy because it could help them strive to take

care of their bodies, " Tylka said.

" But it may be just the opposite: an appreciation of your body is needed

to really adopt better eating habits. "

Tylka and her colleagues conducted several studies on a concept called

" intuitive eating, " which is eating based on feelings of hunger and

fullness rather than on emotions or situations.

They presented their results Aug. 11 in New Orleans in two related

poster sessions at the annual meeting of the American Psychological

Association. The studies will also be published later this year in the

Journal of Counseling Psychology.

The focus on intuitive eating is an attempt to find out what constitutes

healthy eating, rather than the more prevalent focus in psychology on

eating disorders, Tylka said.

Other researchers have determined that intuitive eating has three

components: unconditional permission to eat when hungry and to eat what

food you desire; eating for physical rather than emotional reasons; and

reliance on internal hunger and fullness cues to determine when and how

much to eat.

While parts of intuitive eating are non-controversial, Tylka said many

people can't believe people should be able to eat when they want, and

whatever foods they want.

" There's this belief that if you give people unconditional permission to

eat, they are going to binge and add on a lot of pounds. But that's not

what we have found, " Tylka said.

In a study of 199 college women, published in April in the Journal of

Counseling Psychology, Tylka found that those who followed intuitive

eating principles actually had a slightly lower Body Mass Index than

women who did not.

" It seems amazing, but it is true. If you listen to your body signals in

determining what, when, and how much to eat, you are not going to binge

and you're going to eat an appropriate amounts of nutrient-dense foods, "

she said.

In the new studies presented at the APA, Tylka and her colleagues

examined who was most likely to follow intuitive eating and the

psychological impacts that doing so had on them.

In two samples of college women (597 all together), Tylka and Ohio State

graduate student Avalos found that women who reported they were

intuitive eaters also reported higher levels of appreciation for their

own body. They were more likely to agree with statements like " Despite

its flaws, I accept my body for what it is. "

They were less likely to spend a lot of time thinking about how their

body appears to others, and more time considering how their body feels

and functions.

Results showed that these intuitive eaters felt more unconditional

acceptance of their bodies by parents and others when they were growing

up, and felt that those around them now accepted their bodies for what

they were.

" When women feel that the people in their life accept their body, they

don't feel like they need to lose weight or tone up to be worthwhile, "

Tylka said. " That seems to be directly related to eating intuitively. "

While her research has shown eating intuitively is associated with a

lower BMI, Tylka said that doesn't mean all women who follow these

principles will match the thin models they see in the media.

" There are going to be a variety of body types. For most people, their

ideal body type will hover around the range that doctors say is healthy.

But some will be healthy at a higher weight, and others at a lower weight. "

But a lower BMI isn't the only way that intuitive eating can contribute

to well-being. In the second study presented at the APA, two samples of

college women (737 total women) were tested by Tylka and Ohio State

graduate student Wilcox. Those who scored higher on measures of

intuitive eating also showed higher levels of self-esteem, coping

ability, optimism, and ability to deal with stressful situations.

" Healthy eating is associated with psychological well-being in a lot of

different ways, " Tylka said.

Tylka said this research shows that healthy, adaptive eating is more

than just avoiding the habits that lead to eating disorders.

" By teaching intuitive eating, we can help people learn how to eat

adaptively, and not just tell them what not to do and what to avoid. "

###

Contact:

Tylka

Tylka.2@...

Written by Jeff Grabmeier

Grabmeier.1@...

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