Therapeutic Recommendations for Emotional Eating: A Delphi Study

Emotional eating is a common behavioral phenomenon that involves eating in response to emotional impulses rather than physical hunger and is believed to be a form of affect regulation (Ball and Lee, 2002). While emotional eating occurs within the symptomatology of eating disorders it also occurs independently (Benett, Greene, and Schwartz-Barcott, 2012). Further, a pattern of emotional eating can lead to weight gain and the development of eating disorders (Grant and Boersma, 2005). Currently, research is limited in terms of smart practice treatment recommendations for emotional eating. In order to address this gap in research, the Delphi method was utilized in order to gain consensus from a panel of nine experts regarding treatment recommendation specific to emotional eating. These panelists identified 47 treatment interventions that will be discussed.