Emotional Eating Predicts Weight Regain Among Black Women in the SisterTalk Intervention

Patricia Markham Risica; Tamara Nelson; Shiriki K Kumanyika; Kaitlyn Camacho Orona; Gerald Bove; Angela M Odoms-Young; Kim M Gans

doi:10.1002/oby.23045

Emotional Eating Predicts Weight Regain Among Black Women in the SisterTalk Intervention

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 Jan;29(1):79-85. doi: 10.1002/oby.23045.

Authors

Patricia Markham Risica^{1

2

3}, Tamara Nelson⁴, Shiriki K Kumanyika⁵, Kaitlyn Camacho Orona¹, Gerald Bove⁶, Angela M Odoms-Young⁷, Kim M Gans^{1

2

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
² Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
³ Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁴ Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
⁵ Department of Community Health & Prevention, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁶ Department of Marine Affairs, Coastal Institute, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA.
⁷ Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁸ Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
⁹ Institute for Collaboration in Health, Interventions and Policy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess effects of emotional eating and stress on weight change among Black women in a culturally tailored weight-control program.

Methods: SisterTalk, a cable-TV-delivered weight-control randomized trial, included 331 Black women (aged 18-75 years; BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²) in Boston, Massachusetts. BMI and waist circumference (WC) were assessed at baseline and 3, 8, and 12 months post randomization. Frequency of "eating when depressed or sad" (EWD) and "eating to manage stress" (ETMS) (i.e., "emotional eating") and perceived stress were also assessed. Lagged analyses of data for intervention participants (n = 258) assessed associations of BMI and WC outcomes at each follow-up visit with EWD and ETMS frequency and stress measured at the most recent prior visit.

Results: At 3 months (immediately post intervention), BMI decreased for women in all EWD and ETMS categories but increased at later follow-up for women reporting EWD and ETMS always/often. In addition, 8-month EWD and ETMS predicted 12-month BMI change (both P < 0.05). Higher perceived stress was associated with higher EWD and ETMS; however, stress was not associated with lagged BMI or WC at any time.

Conclusions: Addressing emotional eating and related triggers may improve weight maintenance in interventions with Black women.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Black or African American*
Body Mass Index
Emotions
Female
Humans
Obesity*
Waist Circumference
Weight Gain

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding