Abstract
Background
Variations in mental health may contribute to or impair healthy eating. The relation between eating and mental health is bi-directional: one’s mood or psychological state can affect what and how much one eats, and eating affects one’s mood and psychological well-being. Thus, if we want to promote and develop strategies to encourage healthy eating, it is important to understand the connections between mental health and healthy eating.
Methods
To contribute to this understanding, we examine the research on individual differences in how people respond to food, as well as mood, and emotional, social and collective influences on what and how much is eaten; we then examine the implications of these connections for mental health, with a focus on adolescents and adults. Looking at the relation between eating and mental health from the other direction, we review research investigating whether the amount that one eats or particular foods one ingests can make one feel good or bad about oneself.
Conclusions
Overeating and undereating have complex effects, sometimes contributing to improved feelings of well-being and at other times leaving the individual feeling guilty, deprived, depressed and anxious. We attempt to identify both what we know and the gaps in our knowledge.
Electronic Supplementary Material
Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/BF03405201 and is accessible for authorized users.
MeSH terms: Mental health, eating behaviour, overeating, mood, undereating
Résumé
Contexte
Les fluctuations observées au niveau de la santé mentale peuvent aussi bien contribuer à la saine alimentation qu’aller à l’encontre de celle-ci. On observe en effet une relation bidirectionnelle entre l’alimentation et la santé mentale. Ainsi, l’humeur ou l’état psychologique peuvent influencer ce qu’on mange, de même que les quantités consommées, tandis que l’alimentation influence également l’humeur et le bien-être psychologique. Par conséquent, dans une optique de promotion de la saine alimentation et d’élaboration de stratégies en ce sens, il est important de bien comprendre les diverses connexions entre la santé mentale et la saine alimentation.
Méthodologie
De façon à mieux comprendre le sujet en titre, nous avons examiné, d’une part, les études portant sur les différentes réactions individuelles face à l’alimentation ainsi que les influences de l’humeur, de divers facteurs émotionnels, sociaux et collectifs sur le choix des aliments et les quantités consommées, dans le but de vérifier comment la santé mentale influence l’alimentation, plus particulièrement chez les adolescents et les adultes. D’autre part, nous avons examiné les études portant sur la relation entre l’alimentation et la santé mentale, c.-à-d. sur la façon de se sentir dans sa peau (bien ou mal) suite à l’ingestion de certains aliments ou de quantités spécifiques d’aliments.
Conclusions
Aussi bien le fait de trop manger que de ne pas manger suffisamment entraîne des effets complexes, ces deux comportements pouvant procurer un meilleur sentiment de bien-être ou, au contraire, engendrer de la culpabilité ou un sentiment de manque, de dépression ou d’anxiété. Nous avons tenté d’identifier à la fois l’état actuel des connaissances et les lacunes à combler à cet égard par rapport à ces deux types de comportements opposés.
Mots clés: santé mentale, comportement alimentaire, alimentation excessive (suralimentation), humeur, alimentation insuffisante (sous-alimentation)
French language version/Version en Français
La santé mentale et les comportements alimentaires: Une relation bidirectionnelle
Références
- 1.Heatherton TF, Herman CP, Polivy J. Effects of physical threat and ego threat on eating behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1991;60:138–43. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.60.1.138. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Polivy J, Herman CP. Distress and eating: Why do dieters overeat? Int J Eat Disord. 1999;26:153–64. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199909)26:2<153::AID-EAT4>3.0.CO;2-R. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Polivy J. Psychological consequences of food restriction. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996;96:589–94. doi: 10.1016/S0002-8223(96)00161-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Wansink B, Cheney MM, Chan N. Exploring comfort food preferences across age and gender. Physiol Behav. 2003;79:739–47. doi: 10.1016/S0031-9384(03)00203-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Polivy J, Herman CP. Etiology of binge eating: Psychological mechanisms. In: Fairburn D, editor. Binge Eating. London: Guilford Press; 1993. pp. 173–205. [Google Scholar]
- 6.McFarlane T, Polivy J, Herman CP. The effects of false feedback about weight on restrained and unrestrained eaters. J Abnorm Psychol. 1998;107:312–18. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.107.2.312. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7.Fairburn CG, Cooper Z, Shafran R. Cognitive behaviour therapy for eating disorders: A “trans-diagnostic” theory and treatment. Behav Res Ther. 2003;14:509–28. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7967(02)00088-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 8.VandenBerg P, Thompson JK, Obremski-Brandon K, Coovert M. The Tripartite Influence Model of body image and eating disturbance — A covariance structure modeling investigation testing the mediational role of appearance comparison. J Psychosom Res. 2002;53:1007–20. doi: 10.1016/S0022-3999(02)00499-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9.Springer EA, Winzelberg AJ, Perkins R, Taylor CB. Effects of a body image curriculum for college students on improved body image. Int J Eat Disord. 1999;26:13–20. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199907)26:1<13::AID-EAT2>3.0.CO;2-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10.Stice E, Chase A, Stormer S, Appel A. A randomized trial of a dissonance-based eating disorder prevention program. Int J Eat Disord. 2001;29:247–62. doi: 10.1002/eat.1016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11.Stice E, Mazotti L, Weibel D, Agras WS. Dissonance prevention program decreases thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, dieting, negative affect, and bulimic symptoms: A preliminary experiment. Int J Eat Disord. 2000;27:206–17. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(200003)27:2<206::AID-EAT9>3.0.CO;2-D. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 12.Heatherton TF, Polivy J. Chronic dieting and eating disorders: A spiral model. In: Crowther JH, Hobfall SE, Stephens MAP, Tennenbaum DL, editors. The Etiology of Bulimia: The Individual and Familial Context. Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishers; 1992. pp. 133–55. [Google Scholar]
- 13.Pesa J. Psychosocial factors associated with dieting behaviors among female adolescents. J School Health. 1999;69:196–201. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.1999.tb06385.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 14.Wilson GT. Relation of dieting and voluntary weight loss to psychological functioning and binge eating. Ann Intern Med. 1993;119:727–30. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-119-7_Part_2-199310011-00020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 15.Van Strien T. The concurrent validity of a classification of dieters with low versus high susceptibility toward failure of restraint. Addict Behav. 1997;22:587–97. doi: 10.1016/S0306-4603(96)00069-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 16.Carels RA, Hoffman J, Collins A, Raber AC, Cacciapaglia H, O’Brien WH. Ecological momentary assessment of temptation and lapse in dieting. Eat Behav. 2001;2:307–21. doi: 10.1016/S1471-0153(01)00037-X. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 17.Herman CP, Polivy J. Self-regulatory failure and eating. In: Baumeister RF, Vohs KD, editors. Handbook of Self-regulation Research. New York: Guilford Press; 2004. pp. 492–508. [Google Scholar]
- 18.Stice E, Presnell K, Spangler D. Risk factors for binge eating onset in adolescent girls: A 2-year prospective investigation. Health Psychol. 2002;21:131–38. doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.21.2.131. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 19.Herman CP, Polivy J. Dieting as an exercise in behavioral economics. In: Loewenstein G, Read D, Baumeister R, editors. Time and Decision: Economic and Psychological Perspectives on Intertemporal Choice. New York: Russell Sage Foundation; 2002. pp. 459–90. [Google Scholar]
- 20.Allen HN, Craighead LW. Appetite monitoring in the treatment of Binge Eating Disorder. Behav Ther. 1999;30:253–72. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7894(99)80007-0. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 21.Schnoll R, Zimmerman BJ. Self-regulation training enhances dietary self-efficacy and dietary fiber consumption. J Am Diet Assoc. 2001;101:1006–11. doi: 10.1016/S0002-8223(01)00249-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 22.Wansink B, Painter JM, van Ittersum K. Descriptive menu labels’ effect on sales. Cornell Hotel Restaurant Admin Q. 2001;42:68–72. [Google Scholar]
- 23.Young LR, Nestle M. The contribution of expanding portion sizes to the US obesity epidemic. Am J Public Health. 2002;92:246–49. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.92.2.246. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 24.Gore SA, Foster JA, DiLillo VG, Kirk K, West DS. Television viewing and snacking. Eat Behav. 2003;4:399–405. doi: 10.1016/S1471-0153(03)00053-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 25.Wansink B. Environmental factors that unknowingly increase food consumption by consumers. Annu Rev Nutr (In press). [DOI] [PubMed]
- 26.Herman CP, Roth DA, Polivy J. Effects of the presence of others on food intake: A normative interpretation. Psychol Bull. 2003;129:873–86. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.129.6.873. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 27.Shattuck AL, White E, Kristal AR. How women’s adopted low-fat diets affect their husbands. Am J Public Health. 1992;82:1244–50. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.82.9.1244. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 28.Polivy J, Herman CP. Causes of eating disorders. Annu Rev Psychol. 2002;53:187–213. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135103. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 29.Laessle RG, Uhl H, Lindel B. Parental influences on eating behavior in obese and nonobese preadolescents. Int J Eat Disord. 2001;30:447–53. doi: 10.1002/eat.1106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 30.Videon TM, Manning CK. Influences on adolescent eating patterns: The importance of family meals. J Adolesc Health. 2003;32:365–73. doi: 10.1016/S1054-139X(02)00711-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 31.Miller-Kovach K, Hermann M, Winick M. The psychological ramifications of weight management. J Womens Health Gend Based Med. 1999;8:477–82. doi: 10.1089/jwh.1.1999.8.477. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 32.Hagan MM, Moss DE. Persistence of binge-eating patterns after a history of restriction with intermittent bouts of refeeding on palatable food in rats: Implications for bulimia nervosa. Int J Eat Disord. 1997;22:411–20. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199712)22:4<411::AID-EAT6>3.0.CO;2-P. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 33.Hagan MM, Whitworth RH, Moss DE. Semistarvation-associated eating behaviors among college binge eaters: A preliminary description and assessment scale. Behav Med. 1999;25:125–33. doi: 10.1080/08964289909596742. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 34.Ross CE. Overweight and depression. J Health Soc Behav. 1994;35:63–78. doi: 10.2307/2137335. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 35.Wadden TA, Stunkard AJ, Smoller JW. Dieting and depression: A methodological study. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1986;54:869–71. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.54.6.869. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 36.Weidner G, Connor SL, Hollis JF, Connor WE. Improvements in hostility and depression in relation to dietary change and cholesterol lowering. Ann Intern Med. 1992;117:820–23. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-117-10-820. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 37.Benton D, Slater O, Donohoe RT. The influence of breakfast and a snack on psychological functioning. Physiol Behav. 2001;74:559–71. doi: 10.1016/S0031-9384(01)00601-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 38.Soliah L, Walter JM, Erickson JS. Physical activity and affinity for food of high school and college students. Am J Health Behav. 2000;24:444–57. doi: 10.5993/AJHB.24.6.5. [DOI] [Google Scholar]