Published in the journal “Appetite”, the study analyzes the indexes of emotional hunger, that is the tendency to eat when one is in the throes of stress or negative emotions such as sadness, and the frequency of compulsive binges, characterized by episodes in which they take large amount of food in a relatively short time with the feeling of losing control over what and how much you are eating.
Unlike other research, this study does not only consider Phase 1 of the lockdown, which is the most restrictive, but also Phase 2, when the measures have been eased.
“We collected these data during the second phase of the lockdown, from 14 to 19 May 2020, – explains Dr. Cinzia Cecchetto of the University of Padua, first author of the study – asking our participants to answer the same questions by referring to both at “phase one” of complete lockdown, and at “phase two”, when some restrictions have been removed. The participants, 365 people between 18 and 74 years old from all over Italy, also answered questions about their home, the relationship they had with the people they lived with and how their work changed during the quarantine “.
To study the impact of isolation on the eating habits of the Italian population, an online survey was carried out to investigate the physical, psychological, emotional and social status of the participants.
“We observed that a high level of anxiety and depression, along with factors such as poorer quality of life and social relationships, led to greater emotional hunger, while high levels of stress resulted in episodes of compulsive binging. Our study – continues Dr. Marilena Aiello of the International School of Advanced Studies in Trieste – has also highlighted an element of vulnerability that is often ignored: alexithymia, i.e. the difficulty of some individuals in identifying their own feelings and in distinguishing between emotional and physical sensations. People with high levels of alexithymia were more likely to experience episodes of emotional hunger. Finally, it was observed that dysfunctional eating behaviors were more frequent during Phase 1 than in Phase 2, showing that introducing some exceptions in the quarantine rules can help people to react with less emotional distress ».
Although the restrictive measures were necessary to prevent the spread of the pandemic, the conclusions drawn from the study emphasize the need for health and nutritional measures to mitigate the impact of the negative effects of other possible lockdowns.
“These effects were highlighted on healthy participants, with no clinical history of eating disorders – concludes Dr. Sofia Adelaide Osimo, University of Lausanne – This shows us that containment measures such as lockdown, although necessary to contain the epidemic, have negative effects on the mental health and eating behavior of citizens. Among the support measures to the population to be offered during periods of lockdown, therefore, psychological support cannot be ignored, paying particular attention to vulnerable individuals and the alimentary manifestations of psychological malaise ».
(The editorial staff of Le Scienze is not responsible for the text of this press release, which has been published in its entirety and without changes)
–
