Emotional Awareness and Eating Behavior of Obese People Villano, Michaela S. Castronueva, Eva

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1 Emotional Awareness and Eating Behavior of Obese People Villano, Michaela S. Castronueva, Eva ABSTRACT This study explores the relationship between levels of Emotional Awareness, Eating Behavior among Obese People. The study is correlational and quantitative in nature. A total of one hundred (N = 100) respondents who are experiencing Obesity were gathered through a purposive survey method. The aim of the study is to identify how a person s emotion awareness and eating behavior affect each other which can cause low self esteem, inferiority complex and their obesity. Results from the study shows that the Emotion Awareness and Eating Attitude among Obese People has a significant correlation with value of r = 0.85 which indicates a positive correlation, stating that having a low emotion awareness will directly affect the eating behavior of obese people. Keywords: Emotion Awareness, Eating Attitude, Obesity, Emotion Competency, BMI, emotion eating Obesity is a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of fat inside the body. It increases the risk of health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other diseases. Obesity has always been a problem in affecting the wealthiest nations, but there are recent researches that shows even third world countries, are increasingly plagued by expanding waistlines. This has been an epidemic nowadays. The awareness and practices of an individual plays a big role in solving this issue. There are two psychological theories of obesity. A theory according to Herman and Polivy s (2003) restrained eater hypothesis; obese people tend to restrain their food intake by dieting and avoiding initiation of food intake. However, once they start eating, they eat much more than people who has normal weight. According to the study done by Stice, Werthiem, et al., (2001) the research has indicated that feelings of depression and high levels of negative affect lead to disordered eating. Negative affect and stress have also been identified as the most common triggers of a binge-episode. Another study done by Larsen, Van Strien, Eisinga, & Emgles, (2006); Van Strien (2000) Alexithymia, and more specifically the component of difficulty in identifying feelings, has been found to be positively related to emotional eating. Problems regarding hunger have been highly recognized in the Philippines. According to the GMA news, obesity has become a problem in the country. In the year 2008, the prevalence of obesity or overweight in the Philippines is around 27 out of 100 Filipino adults over 20 years old. This prevalence was 2.4% higher than year 2003 according to the study done by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI). They also found that 35% of adolescence, ages between years old, are stunted while seven in every hundred were found to be obese. Among the Filipino adults, 28% percent were found to be obese or overweight. Eating Behavior The study indicated a large amount of respondents that did not want to be categorized in stigmatization. Which makes the researcher wondered of why that could be. It can mean that most people in a part of the study simply did not care or were against the norm to see their weight as something to be ashamed of. Of course, they cannot avoid what the stigma is within society. Every single day, they are reminded by that through the media, their surroundings or the occasionally view of their loved ones. This could also mean that if they are obese on their own, they should also have a supporter or motivator in their life in order to move on from their heavy consumption. But the researcher sees that their emotional stability as children might falter due to the fact that their diet might change. What if the children refuse to change their diets? And left to 133

2 be more insecure because their overweight condition has made them more conscious of their beings? A broad range of strategies were recommended to reduce obesity prevalence including: influencing the food supply to make healthy choices easier; reducing the marketing of energy dense foods and beverages to children; influencing urban environments and transport systems to promote physical activity; developing community-wide program in multiple settings; increased communications about healthy eating and physical activity; and improved health services to promote breastfeeding and manage currently overweight or obese people. Emotion Awareness According to a study done by Wang, Brownell and Wadden (2004), regarding the influence of the stigma of obesity on overweight individuals, the said authors has found that unlike other minority group members, overweight individuals do not appear to hold more favorable attitudes toward in-group members. This in-group devaluation has implications for changing the stigma of obesity and for understanding the psychosocial and even medical impact of obesity on those affected. A study by Roberts & Danoff-Burg (2010), regarding the mindfulness and health behaviors, Roberts & Danoff-Burg found that overall perceived health and health-related activity restriction, as well as some health behaviors (e.g., binge eating, sleep quality, and physical activity) were related to the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire and were partially mediated by stress. This instrument is based on a factor analytic study of five independently developed mindfulness questionnaires. The analysis yielded five factors that appear to represent elements of mindfulness as it is currently conceptualized. The five facets are observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experience, and no reactivity to inner experience. In a study done by Anderson & May (2012), regarding the mindful eating cycle as treatment for binge eating, Anderson & May found that mindfulness-based treatments are effective with the binge eating population due to their focus on self-regulatory processes. Binge eating disorder goes largely undetected due to the secrecy and shame attached to the behavior. Unfortunately, it may not be differentiated from obesity and is therefore subject to traditional weight loss strategies, often further complicating its course. Other significant improvements were found in levels of mindfulness, depression, anxiety and dietary choices. Screening and referral programs in mental and primary health care could shift the course of Binge Eating Disorder. Synthesis The different studies conducted on overweight people or the generality of obesity showed us the different variables that are correlated with obesity. The researcher seen that obesity plays a big role on children s weight gain. It has shown that there are increasing prevalence of children who experience overweight condition and obesity. Also, GPs perceive overweight as a threat to the health of young people. It is shown that interventions such as education, communication and information on public awareness on the effects of obesity is important and must be done at the early age of life. Obesity has also a strong relationship with eating habits and is found that health professionals have some knowledge of nutrition and weight management but are unclear how to deliver effective weight management advice. In addition, regular yoga practice can also reduce weight gain especially among individuals who are obese or overweight. The articles helped in the realization that not all of the population understands the struggle with being overweight or obese. The articles are the standing proof where the challenge of seeing themselves through a mirror or the process of understanding their gain and lifestyle has a pulling weight in their minds that projects through their consumption. The articles became the eyes of the people around them and aware of their actions. Because of obesity, the articles united. 134

3 With all these scenarios, the researcher is interested in answering the following research problems; what is the level of emotional awareness of the respondents? What is the level of eating attitude of the respondents? Is there a significant relationship between the emotional awareness and eating attitude within the research? Method Research Design The study was quantitative in nature. Descriptive correlational research design was used in the study to determine whether there is a significant relationship between the levels of eating behavior and emotion awareness of obese people. The researcher measured the emotion awareness of the participants and it was then correlated with the eating behavior. Participants A sample of 100 obese people, age 16 years old and above were chosen to be the participant of the study. The researcher used a purposive sampling method which is directed to the obese category according to BMI range which is 30 and above only. Instruments For the Emotional Awareness, the researcher used The Emotion Awareness Questionnaire - 30 (EAQ-30) developed by Rieffe,, Oosterveld,, Miers,., Meerum Terwogt,., & Ly,. (2008). The EAQ-30 is a 30-item questionnaire on a 3-point Likert Scale format (1 = not true, 2 = sometimes true, 3 = often true) with sample items such as I am often confused or puzzled about what I am feeling. and It is difficult to know whether I feel sad or angry or something else. It has a high Cronbach Alphas ranging from (.74) to (.77) namely: Differentiating Emotions (.74), Verbal Sharing (.77), Not Hiding (.76), Bodily Awareness (.74), Other s Emotion (.77), Analyses Emotion (.77). In the scale a higher score indicates greater capacity for emotional competency. For measuring Eating Behaviour, the researcher used the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40) developed by Garner,. & Garfinkel, (1979). The EAT-40 is a 40-item questionnaire on a 6-point in Likert Scale format (Items 1, 18, 19, 23 and 39 are scored: 6 = 3points, 5 = 2 points, 4 = 1 point, 3,2 or 1 = 0 points. ; The remaining items are scored 1 = 2 points, 2 = 2 points, 3 = 1 point, and 4, 5 or 6 = 0 points) with sample items such as I like eating with other people and Prepare foods for others but do not eat what I cook. Cronbach Alphas ranging from (.60) to (.76) namely: Dieting behavior (.76), Oral Control (.63), Food Preoccupation (.62), Body Image (.60). A score greater than 30 is considered to be an indicator of anorectic disorder. Procedures First, the researcher gave a consent form to the target respondent. Upon the approval, the respondent was briefed regarding the research. All the information about the research were disclosed. Second, both questionnaires were distributed by the researcher; the Emotional Awareness questionnaire and the Eating Attitude questionnaire. The questionnaire will determine the respondent s level of awareness. Third, the respondents were asked to answer the questionnaire without a given time frame so that the respondents will read and answer each item carefully. Fourth, after the respondents have answered, both questionnaires were asked to be returned to the researcher. Lastly, all the data gathered were tallied and tabulated the scores of the respondents in both Emotion Awareness Questionnaire and Eating Attitude Test and was then interpreted by the researcher. Data Analysis The researcher analyzed the data by scoring the respondent's answers from the questionnaire. The data gathered from the questionnaires were analyzed through statistical method called descriptive statistics for it would provide summaries about the sample and observations that have been made. The researcher used Pearson r to test the results for correlation. 135

4 Results and Discussion All respondents has the obesity level or those that are "above" or "overweight" from their height and age (Body Mass Index). This study aims to find out the following: (1) the levels of emotional awareness of obese people, (2) the levels of eating behavior of obese people and lastly, (3) the relationship between emotional awareness and eating behavior of obese people. Research Question No. 1: What is the Level of Emotional Awareness of Obese People? Table 1 Data Evaluation Degree of Emotion Awareness SCORES FREQUENCY LEVEL PERCENTAGE LOW AVERAGE 58% AVERAGE 42% HIGH AVERAGE The results show that 58% of the respondents have a low level of emotion awareness which indicates a low capacity for emotion competence or inability or difficulty in understanding their own emotions. They are having a difficulty in expressing and dealing with their feelings and desires at any given moment. As to obesity, they don t know what to feel about themselves, it is as if they were "okay" or very accepting about their weight or obese figures. (M = 14.38, SD = 6.18) There are 42% of the respondents were in the middle which means they are in the average level of emotion awareness. They were not too low and not too high. The respondents were basically aware of their emotions towards their weight but they did not seem to have the confidence about accepting it. They were stagnant or not very responsive towards the questionnaire, but they mentioned that they know or they are very aware of their weight, just not very showy about it. Research Question No. 2: What is the Level of Eating Behavior of Obese People? Table 2 Data Evaluation Degree of Eating Behavior SCORES FREQUENCY LEVEL PERCENTAGE LOW AVERAGE 51% AVERAGE 41% HIGH AVERAGE 8% There were 51% of the respondents showed that they too did not care about their eating behavior. They simply just went on to consume and careless about the people around them thinking offensive things about them. The 41 % were pegged as average. They cared for their weight but still passive about it. It balances their acceptance towards self and acceptance of others towards them. (M = 12.17, SD = 6.10) While 51% has the confidence for consumption and not care for themselves or the people who surround them while they eat. They tend to eat a lot and do not monitor their food intake; 0% 136

5 they don t even care with their diet. The respondents have careless behavior because they seem to accept themselves for who they are. Also 41% does not have the full confidence but have the easy feeling when around the people who accept them. They were comfortable being themselves in front of friends, they eat what they want, they eat as many as they can, but not at ease when people stare or in being reminded that they are big. Clearly, the respondents do not fully accept their obesity, but rather than make a choice to change their lifestyle, they still stick to their habit of eating too much without thinking of the consequences that will follow. They have no urge to motivate themselves in losing weight, thus causing their own grievances about their obesity. Lastly, 8% has their eating behavior on a very high scale. They don t accept what they are, they tend to reduce, or restrain themselves from eating but once they started to eat, they tend to eat more. There was a hint of sadness in answering the questionnaire, noticed by the researcher. They did not respond as friendly or as confident as the other respondent but they were willing to help and so they did. Research Question No. 3: Is there a significant relationship between Emotional Awareness and Eating Behavior of Obese People? Table 3 Correlation of Emotion Awareness and Eating Behavior Eating Behavior Pearson Correlation 0.85 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.01 N 100 *. Correlation is significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed) Emotional Awareness Table 3 shows that the correlation of the two variables. The data shows that there is a significant relationship between Emotion Awareness and Eating Behavior of obese people. By using the Pearson correlation coefficient, the researcher was able to justify that the two variables had a positive correlation between Emotion Awareness scores at (M = SD = 6.18) and Eating Behavior Scores at (M = 12.17, SD = 6.10). Thus the value 0.85 which was the result of the Pearson correlation coefficient proves the strong correlation of the two variables. In a study done by Filaire, Larue & Rouveix (2011), it was shown that the emotion awareness correlates with eating behavior by illustrating the important role of emotion in a person s eating behavior. Another study by Sim & Zeman shows that the role of emotion awareness has received considerable attention because it can lead to depression and high levels of negative effects on a person which can directly lead to unusual eating behavior such as binge eating or stress eating. Another study done by Van Strien & Ouwens (2003) Manzoni et al., (2009) Overeating is a response to negative emotions among obese people and are more at risk at gaining excessive weight than people at a normal weight. Conclusion and Recommendation Based on the findings of the study, obese people tend to have low emotional awareness which directly correlates to their eating behavior by stating that obese people fall on the low levels of both emotion awareness and eating behavior. The researcher can now justify that by having an unusual eating behavior like binge eating and the like, it can become the cause for having a low emotion awareness such as having an inferiority complex, experiencing low self esteem and the low capacity to interact with others and can also lead to a more extreme eating 137

6 behavior in some cases. It is also concluded that on the eating behavior of obese people is associated with emotion awareness. The respondents clearly show no or little care about their weight which leads them to more complications in terms of mental and physical dissatisfaction. Based on the findings about the correlation between emotion awareness and eating behavior, the researcher can conclude that there is a relationship between the two variables. The researcher recommends future studies should use other research designs like qualitative research/interview as it can achieve a deeper interaction with the respondents which will produce a better understanding as to what effect can emotion awareness can do to one s eating behavior and vice versa. Future studies can also use research instruments that are able to predict eating disorders so that they can find out if there is a possibility that a person can have eating disorder due to low emotion competency. Reference Anderson, K., & May, M. (2012). The Mindful Eating Cycle: Treatment for Binge Eating Disorder. Retrieved from Filaire E, Larue J, Rouveix M., (2011) Eating behaviors in relation to emotional intelligence. Retrieved from Garner, D.M. & Garfinkel, P.E., The Eating attitude test. Psychological Medicine, 9, Herman C.P., & Polivy J. (1984) Consumption After a Diet Violation Disinhibition or Compensation? Retrieved from Lahaye, M., Mikolajczak, M., Rieffe, C., Villanueva, L. et al,. (2011). Cross-validation of the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire for children in three populations (2011). Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 29, 5, Larsen J.K, Van Strien T, Eisinga R, et al., Gender differences in the association between alexithymia and emotional eating in obese individuals. Retrieved from PHOTO ESSAY: Obesity, a growing problem among Filipinos. Retrieved from Rieffe, C., Oosterveld, P., Miers, A.C., Meerum Terwogt, M., & Ly, V. (2008). Emotion awareness and internalising symptoms in children and adolescents; the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire revised. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, Roberts K.C., & Danoff-Burg S., (2010). Mindfulness and Health Behaviors: Is Paying Attention Good for You?, 165 Sim, L., and Zeman, J. (2004). Emotion awareness and identification skills in adolescent girls with Bulimia Nervosa. J. Clin. Child Adolesc. Psychol.33: Stice E., Rohde P., Shaw H., (2011) A Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Prevention Intervention Retrieved from =Stice,+Wertheim+2011 Van S. & Ouwens (2003) Manzoni et al., (2009) Trait anxiety, but not trait anger, predisposes obese individuals to emotional eating Retrieved from Wang S.S., Brownell K.D., Wadden T.A., The Influence of the Stigma of Obesity on Overweight Individuals. Retrieved from 138