Preventing weight gain in adults who emotionally eat: An open pilot

Weight gain prevention is a critical component of comprehensive obesity care. Emotional eating may contribute to unwanted weight gain, increasing cardiometabolic risk factors among adults with obesity. One way to help reduce emotional eating and reduce weight gain is to provide instruction in Appetite Awareness Training (AAT).

The purpose of this open pilot study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the SATISFY intervention, a 12-week intervention consisting of AAT and training from the Diabetes Prevention Program in a sample of Black and White adults with obesity, and who report emotional eating.

Eligible adults participated in 12 virtual weekly 60-90-minute group sessions. The intervention included content from AAT and the Diabetes Prevention Program. Participants also received weekly feedback on weight and eating behavior trends via a digital health platform. Participants were assessed at 0, 3 (T1), and 6 months (T2).

At baseline, participants (N = 31) had a mean (±SD) age of 47.55 ± 12.41 years, BMI of 36.6 ± 6.6 kg/m² and moderate levels of emotional eating. Participants attended approximately 50 % of sessions and 77 % of participants were retained at six months. Reductions in emotional eating subscales, disinhibition, and improvements in interoceptive awareness were observed, with participants also largely maintaining their weight from T1-T3. Finally, participants reported moderate to moderately high acceptability scores.

The results of this study provide evidence about the feasibility, acceptability, and potential of the SATISFY program to help participants with emotional eating maintain their weight.