Monitoring Appetite Instead of Food May Reduce Food Preoccupation

Daily food records are a fundamental part of cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders. Food records or diaries help track treatment progress and also provide essential information about eating behaviors. However, food monitoring can also increase preoccupation with food, and some patients may be reluctant to comply. Appetite monitoring may provide an alternative way to monitor food that takes attention away from food and instead stresses the individual’s internal signals of hunger and fullness, according to a team of Colorado clinicians.

As reported at the International Conference on Eating Disorders in Montreal, Linda Craighead, PhD and colleagues at the University of Colorado, Boulder, designed a study in which 290 college women completed a series of questionnaires assessing eating-related pathology. The women were shown the procedures for food monitoring and appetite monitoring and then were asked to rate the acceptability of each method.

Participants preferred appetite monitoring

Participants in the current study predicted food monitoring would produce significantly more restriction (289 women), thoughts about food (287 women), and distress about weight and shape (287 women). Both the level of eating pathology and past experiences with monitoring food intake affected their choice. As eating pathology decreased, partisans indicated a greater preference for appetite monitoring. For those who had monitored food intake in the past, (66% of participants), the less helpful they viewed the experience, the less likely they were to use food monitoring in the future.

The authors noted that in an earlier randomized study of 38 women with shape and weight concerns, seven to 10 days of food monitoring produced significantly greater increases in preoccupation with food and weight and significantly more guilt about food intake than did appetite monitoring.

Given concerns that food monitoring may increase preoccupation and guilt about food, appetite monitoring may be a better option for early intervention and prevention of eating disorders, according to the authors.