Research
Adherence
Patients perceive emotional eating, driven by stress, depression, and childhood adversity, as a significant cause of obesity and a barrier to weight loss maintenance.
For patients who eat in response to stress or depression, addressing the emotional root cause is crucial. Simply focusing on diet and exercise may not be enough. Psychological support and coping strategies can help manage emotional eating.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Diverse psychosocial factors were described by some participants as causing weight gain. With 'a huge emotional part in it, where you would say emotional eating . . . you can turn to food for comfort,' for many their obesity was perceived as caused in part by emotional factors leading to comfort eating as a coping mechanism.
Why this rating
Qualitative data; self-reported perceptions.
Source
“You Are Always at War With Yourself” The Perceptions and Beliefs of People With Obesity Regarding Obesity as a Disease
Andrew Grannell et al. · Qualitative Health Research · 2021
DOI 10.1177/10497323211040767
clinical_guideline · n=23Cited 12×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Patients with severe obesity perceive obesity as a disease due to a lack of control and addiction-like mechanisms, yet simultaneously maintain a belief in personal responsibility and self-blame, creating a barrier to accepting the disease label fully.Moderate
- Patients perceive lifestyle factors (diet, exercise) and biological factors (genetics, metabolism) as causes of obesity, but often lack understanding of the biological mechanisms, leading to a focus on willpower and emotional eating as primary determinants of weight loss maintenance.Moderate
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