Research
Mixed
Genetic susceptibility to obesity, measured by polygenic risk scores, is partly mediated by emotional and uncontrolled eating behaviors.
Your genetics may make you more susceptible to emotional eating, but this doesn't mean you are powerless. Focus on managing your environment and behaviors, such as reducing access to energy-dense foods and learning emotion regulation skills, to mitigate genetic risk.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
In two Finnish adult cohorts and in French and UK adult cohorts, participants with a higher polygenic risk score of obesity had also a slightly higher tendency to emotional and uncontrolled eating. Moreover, the positive effects of the polygenetic risk score on BMI and waist circumference were partly mediated by these eating behaviours.
Why this rating
Based on cross-sectional studies and mediation analyses; causal pathways are complex.
Source
Emotional eating and obesity in adults: the role of depression, sleep and genes
Hanna Konttinen · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · 2020
DOI 10.1017/s0029665120000166
narrative_reviewCited 255×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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