The Research

intuitive eating

Mar 11

For those who need the evidence that weight is not a good indicator of health, that intentional weight loss through dieting is unsustainable and causes harm, and that Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size© are backed by research with significantly positive outcomes, see below:

(I have the PDF’s of each of these studies, let me know if I can send any of these your way.)

The Evidence on Weight and Health:

An Evidence-Based Rationale for Adopting Weight-Inclusive Health Policy: https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sipr.12062
Obesity treatment: Weight loss versus increasing fitness and physical activity for reducing health risks: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34755078/
Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift: https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-10-9
A Call to Shift the Public Health Focus Away From Weight: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4605176/
Healthy Lifestyle Habits and Mortality in Overweight and Obese Individuals: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22218619/
Preventing Obesity and Eating Disorders in Adolescents: https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/3/e20161649/52684/Preventing-Obesity-and-Eating-Disorders-in
Food for thought: Examining the relationship between food thought suppression and weight-related outcomes: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20434065/
“Making weight” during military service is related to binge eating and eating pathology for veterans later in life: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31471885/
The Weight-Inclusive versus Weight-Normative Approach to Health: Evaluating the Evidence for Prioritizing Well-Being over Weight Loss: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jobe/2014/983495/
Slim Chance for Permanent Weight Loss: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2018-40989-001.html
What’s Wrong With the ‘War on Obesity?’ A Narrative Review of the Weight-Centered Health Paradigm and Development of the 3C Framework to Build Critical Competency for a Paradigm Shift: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244018772888
Misclassification of cardiometabolic health when using body mass index categories in NHANES 2005–2012: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26841729/
Changing the Endpoints for Determining Effective Obesity Management: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25459976/
Changes in the Prevalence and Correlates of Weight-Control Behaviors and Weight Perception in Adolescents in the UK, 1986-2015: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33196811/
Underweight Predicts Greater Risk of Cardiac Mortality Post Acute Myocardial Infarction: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32641636/
Weight-Focused Public Health Interventions—No Benefit, Some Harm: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2772998
Medicare’s Search for Effective Obesity Treatments: Diets Are Not the Answer: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17469900/

How Dieting and Restriction Cause Harm:

Food scarcity, neuroadaptations, and the pathogenic potential of dieting in an unnatural ecology: Binge eating and drug abuse: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21530562/
Do not eat the red food!: Prohibition of snacks leads to their relatively higher consumption in children: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17490786/
From the Garden of Eden to the land of plenty: Restriction of fruit and sweets intake leads to increased fruit and sweets consumption in children: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18501474/
A Systematic Review of the Application And Correlates of YFAS-Diagnosed ‘Food Addiction’ in Humans: Are Eating-Related ‘Addictions’ a Cause for Concern or Empty Concepts?: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26633647/
Eating dependence and weight gain; no human evidence for a ‘sugar-addiction’ model of overweight: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28330706/
Caloric deprivation increases responsivity of attention and reward brain regions to intake, anticipated intake, and images of palatable foods: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23201365/
Fasting Increases Risk for Onset of Binge Eating and Bulimic Pathology: A 5-Year Prospective Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19025239/
Restricting access to palatable foods affects children’s behavioral response, food selection, and intake1–3: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10357749/
The Effect of Deprivation on Food Cravings and Eating Behavior in Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16261600/
Does dieting make you fat? A twin study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21829159/
Dieting and disordered eating behaviors from adolescence to young adulthood: Findings from a 10-year longitudinal study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3140795/
Dieting and weight cycling as risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases: who is really at risk?: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25614199/
Persistent Metabolic Adaptation 6 Years After “The Biggest Loser” Competition: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27136388/
Disordered eating, perfectionism, and food rules: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23121786/
How dieting makes some fatter: from a perspective of human body composition autoregulation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22475574/

How Weight Stigma Causes Harm:

The Broken Lens: How Anti-Fat Bias in Psychotherapy is Harming Our Clients and What To Do About It: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-22747-005
Mechanisms underlying weight status and healthcare avoidance in women: A study of weight stigma, body-related shame and guilt, and healthcare stress: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29574257/
Perceived Weight Discrimination and 10-Year Risk of Allostatic Load Among US Adults: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5253095/
Weight Stigma Is a Modifiable Risk Factor: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30135029/
Impact of weight stigma on physiological and psychological health outcomes for overweight and obese adults: A systematic review: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29171076/

The Evidence on Intuitive Eating/HAES:

Intuitive Eating: Associations With Physical Activity Motivation and BMI: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24459999/
Do No Harm: Moving Beyond Weight Loss to Emphasize Physical Activity at Every Size: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28427483/
Prescribing Pleasure and Meaning: https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(14)00327-4/pdf
The Health at Every Size Principles: https://www.sizediversityandhealth.org/health-at-every-size-haes-approach/
The Acceptance Model of Intuitive Eating: A Comparison of Women in Emerging Adulthood, Early Adulthood, and Middle Adulthood: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21244144/
Can patients with eating disorders learn to eat intuitively? A 2-year pilot study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28151055/
Intuitive eating is associated with glycemic control in type 2 diabetes: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32232778/
Eat for Life: AWork Site Feasibility Study of a Novel Mindfulness-Based Intuitive Eating Intervention: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23941103/
The Trust Model: A Different Feeding Paradigm for Managing Childhood Obesity: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2008.378
Interoceptive Awareness Skills for Emotion Regulation: Theory and Approach of Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29892247/
Intuitive eating is associated with interoceptive sensitivity. Effects on body mass index: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23811348/
Do interoceptive awareness and interoceptive responsiveness mediate the relationship between body appreciation and intuitive eating in young women?: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27866989/
Intuitive eating and its psychological correlates: A meta-analysis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33786858/
An uncontrolled pilot feasibility trial of an intuitive eating intervention for college women with disordered eating delivered through group and guided self-help modalities: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eat.23319
Intuitive eating in young adults. Who is doing it, and how is it related to disordered eating behaviors?: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23063606/