Tracking 878 Children From Age 6 to 18
Children who frequently experience intense mood swings and negative emotions face an increased risk of developing emotional overeating during adolescence. That finding emerges from a study published in the journal Child Development by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Often referred to as comfort eating, emotional overeating involves consuming food in response to emotional states rather than physical hunger. Elevated levels of this behavior correlate with a higher probability of developing obesity and more serious eating problems later in life.
Inside the Trondheim Early Secure Study
To track these developmental trajectories, the research group utilized data from the long-term Trondheim Early Secure Study (TESS). This longitudinal project followed 878 children and adolescents from age 6 to 18.
According to the data, children exhibiting greater emotional volatility alongside heightened negative feelings faced a raised probability of comfort eating as teenagers. The project tested existing theories by analyzing how emotional volatility and regulatory skills shape the progression of emotional overeating over time.
Francesca Parisi on Long-Term Health Concerns
As lead author Francesca Parisi, a PhD research fellow at NTNU’s Department of Psychology, explained, young children might occasionally display comfort eating as a normal habit, but elevated amounts of this behavior connect to a heightened danger of later obesity and more severe eating disorders.
Parisi collaborated with NTNU professors Silje Steinsbekk and Lars Wichstrøm, alongside associate professor and supervisor Oda Bjørklund. Ultimately, the NTNU analysis uncovered no significant gender or age differences between boys and girls within childhood and adolescence regarding these behaviors.
Partial Support for Prevailing Psychological Models
The results lend only limited support to existing frameworks of emotional overeating, which suggest that poor self-regulation and severe mood shifts act as the primary catalysts.
Beyond internal emotional regulation, the study highlights an external behavioral factor involving parental habits. According to Silje Steinsbekk, previous work by their team has demonstrated that using food to soothe a child raises the likelihood of subsequent overeating. This habit may be particularly important to avoid for parents who have a highly emotional child.
Early Preventive Measures for Youth
Investigators propose that monitoring adolescents who exhibit volatile and powerful emotions more closely could serve as an effective tactic to intercept emotional overeating early. Uncovering the triggers behind this eating style is crucial so that proactive interventions can be deployed at an early stage.
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