Eating behaviors and alexithymic features of obese and overweight adolescents

• Published in: Pediatric investigation Vol. 64; no. 1; pp. e15008 - n/a
• Main Authors: Koyuncu, Zehra, Kadak, Muhammed Tayyib, Tarakçıoğlu, Mahmut Cem, Bingöl Çağlayan, Rahime Hülya, Doğangün, Burak, Ercan, Oya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-01-2022; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Alexithymia; Anxiety; Body Mass Index; Body weight; childhood; Children; Children & youth; Eating behavior; emotional eating; Emotions; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Hemoglobin; Homeostasis; Humans; Insulin resistance; Mental depression; Obesity; Obesity - complications; Obesity - epidemiology; Overweight; Overweight - complications; Overweight - epidemiology; Pediatrics; Questionnaires; restrained eating; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Istanbul Turkey; Turkey; alexithymia; restrained eating; childhood; emotional eating; obesity
• ISSN: 1328-8067; 2096-3726; 1442-200X; 2574-2272
• DOI: 10.1111/ped.15008

Background
In this study, eating behaviors and alexithymia levels in obese adolescents were investigated. Relationships between alexithymia, eating behavior and insulin resistance were studied.
Methods
The patient group consisted of 87 obese adolescents or overweight adolescents (O + OW). The comparison group consisted of 101 normal weight adolescents (N). Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children, Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, and Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale–Child Version, are used for assessing adolescents. The homeostasis model assessment‐estimated insulin resistance was calculated to determine insulin resistance.
Results
Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children scores were significantly higher in O + OW than N (P = 0.009). Both emotional and restrained eating scores are higher in O + OW (P < 0.001 for both). On the other hand, external eating scores were not significantly different. In O + OW, external eating was positively associated with homeostasis model assessment‐estimated insulin resistance (r: 035, P = 0.006), but is not associated with fasting blood glucose and the hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (r: −0.05, P = 0.62; r: −0.05, P = 0.73). Regression analysis showed that restrained and emotional eating were predictors of O + OW (B: 0.1, P < 0.001; B: 0.06, P = 0.001). Emotional eating was positively correlated with the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children and Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale–Child Version in O + OW (r: 0.29, P = 0.008; r: 0.48, P < 0.001).
Conclusions
Obese and overweight adolescents were more alexithymic than normal weight adolescents. Alexithymia scores were also positively associated with emotional eating. On the other hand, alexithymia was not a predictor of obesity/overweight. Restrained and emotional eating were predictors of obesity/overweight. Emotional and restrained eating were more common in obese and overweight adolescents than normal‐weight adolescents. External eating is not significantly associated with obesity but is related to insulin resistance.