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Dissertation
Assessing the relationship between weight variability and eating regulation in normal-weight women
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Dec 2016
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7243
Abstract
Weight variability is the amount that one's weight fluctuates around a linear weight change trajectory. Greater than average weight variability may be a sign that one's body weight regulatory system is being undermined by biological and environmental influences. A dysfunctional weight regulation system may be reflected by poorer ability to control eating in the face of strong environmental cues towards overconsumption. The present study tested two measures of eating regulation, caloric compensation and eating in the absence of hunger, in normal weight young women with high and low eight-week measured weight variability in order to better understand how a degradation of eating regulation mechanisms may contribute to weight variability. Information about restrained eating, dieting, weight history, loss of control over eating, and drive to consume palatable foods was also collected, summarized by two factors using a principal components analysis, and correlated with weight variability to better understand the profile of those with high and low weight variability. Weight variability was unrelated to either measure of eating regulation or to either self-report factor. Eating in the absence of hunger was positively associated with reported loss of control over eating, and with weight gain over eight weeks. Results suggest that weight variability, at least in the present sample, was not related to regulation over eating, dieting, or hedonic hunger. They also indicate that eating in the absence of hunger may be a clinically relevant behavioral measure in young adult women, suggestive of proneness to weight gain and strong hedonic drive. Future research should test the association of longer-term variability in weight with eating regulation, and of the relationship between these constructs in weight gain prone individuals.
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Details
- Title
- Assessing the relationship between weight variability and eating regulation in normal-weight women
- Creators
- Emily Hatow Feig - DU
- Contributors
- Michael R. Lowe (Advisor) - Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- viii, 91 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 7243; 991014632828504721