The Effects of Intuitive Eating on Body Appreciation and Dietary Restraint in College Females

Summary

College-aged women are at risk for eating disorders and disordered eating, which present serious health concerns. Two potent risk factors for eating disorders, body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint, are common among female college students.

Intuitive eating is a strategy in which instead of listening to the predominant 'diet culture' and focusing on things like calories and energy balance, individuals practice listening to their internal physiological signals to decide when and what to eat and when to stop. Based on current research, intuitive eating has been shown to foster body satisfaction and healthy eating attitudes among women.

The proposed pilot study will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an intuitive eating program for University of Delaware college women. In addition, this study will test the hypothesis that the intuitive eating program will reduce cognitive factors of body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint in females compared to a waitlisted group. Additionally, the investigators expect this reduction in dietary restraint to be associated with less disordered eating behavior. Exploratory aims include measuring engagement in disordered eating behaviors and changes in weight over the study period. This preliminary data will be used to estimate effect sizes for larger future trials.

Conditions

• Eating Behavior
• Body Image
• Dietary Habits
• Restricted Behavior

Interventions

OTHER

Intuitive Eating Program

A 5-week Intuitive Eating Curriculum created by a Registered Dietitian, Kaylee Frazier, will be used. The creator of this curriculum was contacted for permission and the curriculum was modified for use with college women. The goal of the program is to challenge and eventually shift participant's mindset from the traditional diet culture towards a way of eating that is driven by their unique bodily needs. Content will focus on training participant to listen to their internal body cues for hunger opposed to restricting or eliminating foods. A list of intuitive eating principles and ways to incorporate them into daily routines will be provided to the participants throughout the sessions, coupled with homework assignments, journaling, and exercises to be completed before subsequent sessions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Delaware

  collaborator OTHER

• Carly R Pacanowski

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Carly Pacanowski, PhD · Faculty Support

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

26 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-02-28

Primary Completion

2019-05-09

Completion

2019-05-09

Countries

• United States

Study Locations