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Mindful Eating, Disordered Eating, and Exercise Addiction: A Bayesian Gaussian Network Analysis
Merve Rumeysa Alpay1, Cemal Berkan Alpay2, Attila Szabo3
1Faculty of Sport Science, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Osmaniye 80000, Türkiye.
Nutrients
|August 13, 2026
Summary
This study found that risk of exercise addiction is modestly linked to specific eating attitudes, not overall disordered eating or mindful eating patterns in recreational exercisers. Component-level analysis identified key eating behaviors associated with exercise addiction risk.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Exercise Science
- Nutritional Psychology
Background:
- Disordered eating attitudes and mindful eating are recognized factors influencing health behaviors.
- Exercise addiction risk (REA) is a growing concern within recreational exerciser populations.
- Understanding the interplay between eating behaviors and REA is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate component-level relationships between mindful eating, disordered eating attitudes, and risk of exercise addiction (REA) in recreational exercisers.
- To identify conditional associations and central variables across these constructs using Bayesian Gaussian network analysis.
- To explore how specific facets of eating behaviors relate to the risk of developing exercise addiction.
Main Methods:
- Data from 303 recreational exercisers in Türkiye were analyzed using a 12-node Bayesian Gaussian network.
- Participants completed the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ), and Expanded Exercise Addiction Inventory-3 (EAI-3).
- Network analysis examined conditional associations between subscales, with robustness checks against frequentist models and demographic adjustments.
Main Results:
- Strongest associations were found within instruments (e.g., EAT-26 subscales with each other).
- Cross-domain links were weaker; mindful eating and exercise addiction were primarily connected via MEQ Eating Discipline-EAI-3 Healthy Relevance and MEQ Conscious Eating-EAI-3 Addiction Tendency.
- EAT-26 Bulimia and Food Preoccupation showed the highest standardized strength; MEQ Conscious Eating had the strongest expected influence.
Conclusions:
- Risk of exercise addiction is selectively and modestly associated with specific eating components, not global disordered eating or mindful eating.
- Component-level Bayesian Gaussian network analysis is valuable for identifying candidate components related to REA.
- Findings suggest implications for screening and designing future intervention studies for recreational exercisers.
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