Association between emotional eating and BMI in patients with type 2 diabetes

Background. Obesity mainly caused by overeating is one of the most important risk factor of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of the present study was to investigate eating behavior types of patients with T2DM and obesity.

Methods. We compared samples of patients with T2DM from the UK (N=113, 64 men) and Russia (N=200; 61 men) whom we asked to complete the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ). Mean age was 61.2±9.7 years old (range 39-85 years). Physical assessment included height, weight, body mass index and obesity degree according World Health Organization. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 21.0. Means (SD), 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.

Results. One hundred seventy-nine patients were classified as obese (range 30.0 – 53.9). Mean values for restraint, emotional and external eating for this obese group were 2.8±0.07 (95% CI 2.7-3.0), 3.3±0.08 (95% CI 3.2-3.5) and 3.0±0.05 (95% CI 2.9-3.2), respectively. Russian patients showed higher levels of external eating (p<0.0001) and emotional eating (p<.0001) than their UK counterparts, but levels of restraint eating did not differ by country (p=0.30). HbA1c was significantly lower in the Russian patients compared to the UK patients (p=0.04). Multiple regression analysis showed that emotional eating, but not restraint or external eating was a significant predictor of BMI even when controlling for age, sex, HbA1c and country (β = 0.56; p < 0.0001; 95%CI 1.03-3.0)

Conclusion. Present study has shown that emotional eating is an important correlate of BMI in patients with T2DM patients. However, eating behaviour styles may differ by country.