Emotional Eating May Drive Obesity in Patients With RA

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and obesity may struggle with emotional eating, suggested the findings of a recent study published in Clinical Nutrition ESPEN.

“Obesity is a risk factor for both cardiovascular mortality and poor disease control,” the researchers wrote. “Eating habits may be one of the key features for addressing obesity.”

Researchers used the 18-item Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire to evaluate cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating in 157 participants with RA and 60 control participants.

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On the whole, cognitive restraint and emotional eating scores were similar between participants with RA and controls, according to the researchers. The control group, however, had higher uncontrolled eating scores.

When researchers focused only on participants with RA, they found higher emotional eating scores among those with obesity compared to those without obesity. Approximately 40% of participants with RA were considered obese.

“It has been found that emotional eating is learned rather than inherited and may be treated with techniques that increase emotional regulation skills. Also, social support, nutritional, and eating education may be supportive for treatment of eating-related diseases,” researchers wrote. “Early detection and timely intervention of emotional eating disorders after diagnosis may be beneficial for preventing obesity in RA.”

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

Bulut N, Tezcan ME. Emotional eating is more frequent in obese rheumatoid arthritis patients. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN. 2020;35:81-84. doi:10.1016/j.clnesp.2019.11.006