| Emotional eating is defined as excessive eating behaviour in response to negative emotions or stress.It is associated with energy intake and obesity and often leads to an individual’s eating disorder and increased risk of binge eating.Exercise of moderate to high intensity has a positive ameliorative effect on emotional eating,and regular exercise can lead to more positive emotions and lower negative emotions,and this positive ameliorative effect is seen across all age groups.However,few studies have examined the psychological mechanisms by which exercise affects emotional eating.It has also been shown that acute exercise is effective in reducing subjects’ cravings for things they normally crave(e.g.food,drugs)and increasing their cravings for other things.So,can acute exercise change cravings for different types of food.In summary,through three studies,a cross-sectional survey method and an experimental approach,this paper aims to investigate(1)whether exercise of different intensities can improve emotional eating;and(2)what are the psychological mechanisms by which exercise improves emotional eating? Specifically,whether exercise can improve emotional eating by reducing the level of stress perception and enhancing emotional regulation;and(3)whether acute exercise interventions can change the level of craving for high-energy foods in emotional eaters.Study 1: A cross-sectional design combined with a questionnaire was used to examine whether different intensities of exercise affect emotional eating behaviour and the psychological mechanisms of their effects.A total of 546 participants,aged 18-50,231 males and 315 females,with a mean Body Mass Index(BMI)of 22.18 ± 5.9 kg/m2,were included in the study,which measured exercise levels,perceived stress levels,emotional regulation,neuroticism and eating behaviour.The results showed that moderate and high intensity exercise was significantly and negatively associated with emotional eating,i.e.the higher the amount of moderate and high intensity exercise,the lower the level of emotional eating.Mediation analysis showed that moderate and high intensity exercise reduced emotional eating by reducing stress levels and improving emotional regulation,with stress levels and emotional regulation playing a partially mediating role.Moderation models suggest that neuroticism moderates the relationship between exercise and stress levels.Specifically,for the high neuroticism group,there was no significant difference in stress levels between exercise intensities;for the low neuroticism group,scores for stress levels were significantly lower for both moderate and high exercise than for the low exercise group.The mediating role of stress levels and emotion regulation ability in the influence of moderate and high intensity exercise on emotional eating suggests a psychological benefit of exercise,as exercise reduces stress levels and improves cognitive executive functions including emotion regulation,whereas higher stress levels and poorer emotion regulation ability are common causes of emotional eating.Individuals with low neuroticism have a more significant and easier mitigating effect of exercise on their stress levels as their mood swings are smaller than those of individuals with high neuroticism and their emotional state is more susceptible to external factors.Study 2: A longitudinal follow-up study design and experimental research method were used to further investigate the causal relationship between long-term regular exercise and emotional eating through a long-term exercise intervention,and to examine the mediating role of emotion regulation in the process of long-term exercise affecting emotional eating.A total of 75 female university students were recruited,including 41 in the exercise group and 34 in the control group,with a mean age of 20.03±1.49 years and a mean BMI of 22.1±1.74 kg/m2.After the subjects completed the demographic information and pre-test questionnaires including the Emotional Eating Inventory and the Emotional Regulation Self-Efficacy Scale,the intervention group was given a 12-week high-intensity intermittent(HIIT)exercise intervention for 60 minutes,3 times per week.The main high-intensity interval training movements included high leg lifts in place,straddle jumps,hip slaps and crossovers.During the entire 12-week experimental period,subjects were not allowed any other exercise program at any time outside of the experiment.After 12 weeks,a post-test was administered,which consisted of completing the Emotional Eating Scale and the Emotional Regulation Difficulties Scale.A repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects for both group(high intensity exercise group and control group)and time of test(baseline and post exercise intervention)for emotional eating scores and a significant interaction between the two.A simple effects analysis found no significant difference in emotional eating between the two groups at baseline level and after the intervention,emotional eating was significantly lower in the exercise group(2.37 ± 0.68)than in the control group(3.28±0.69);there was no significant difference in the emotional eating scores of the control group on the pre-and post-test,and the emotional eating scores of the exercise group on the post-test(2.37±0.68)were significantly lower than the baseline level(3.59±0.6).When group was used as the independent variable(with the control group as the reference),the change in emotional regulation self-efficacy(Δefficacy: pre-test-post-test)as the mediating variable and the change in emotional eating(Δemotional eating: pre-test-post-test)as the dependent variable were analysed for mediating effects,it was found that exercise could reduce emotional eating by increasing emotional regulation self-efficacy,with emotional regulation self-efficacy playing a Emotion regulation self-efficacy partially mediated the effect.Emotional regulation self-efficacy(RESE)is a specific aspect of self-efficacy that reflects an individual’s confidence in his or her ability to regulate emotions and is a measure of emotion regulation ability.Study 3: Study 3 used an experimental method semi-structured interview to investigate whether acute exercise interventions of different intensities were effective in reducing eating cravings through experimental manipulation of induced negative emotions combined with acute exercise interventions.A total of 111 female university students were recruited,with a mean age of 18.83±0.75 years and a mean BMI of21.23±2.06 kg/m2.The subjects’ height and weight were measured before the exercise intervention and they were asked to complete pre-test questionnaires on endostasis and emotional state.The subjects were then interviewed about the foods they ate frequently or loved when they were in a particular negative mood(e.g.,when they were anxious)and rated their liking and craving.After the elicitation,endostasis and emotional state questionnaires were completed and food cravings were rated.Next,the intervention group was given a 30-minute moderate-to-high intensity exercise intervention,while the control group sat or read outdoors for 30 minutes.The moderate intensity exercise was a 20-minute(minus 10 minutes of warm-up and finishing exercises)brisk walk around the exercise yard,and the high intensity exercise was an intermittent completion of 20minutes(minus 10 minutes of warm-up and finishing exercises)of in-situ high kicks,straddle jumps crotch high-fives,cross crossover jump,open and closed bobby jump and deep squat jump.After the exercise,the subjects were brought back to the laboratory to complete questionnaires on endostasis,mood,enjoyment of exercise and food cravings.The results showed that compared to the baseline level,negative mood was significantly higher in the experimental and control groups after negative mood induction;compared to the post-induction level,negative mood was significantly lower in the experimental group but not in the control group after exercise;compared to the baseline level,craving for healthy food was significantly lower and craving for unhealthy food was significantly higher in the experimental and control groups after negative mood induction;compared to the post-induction level,craving for healthy food was significantly higher in the experimental group but not in the control group after exercise;compared to the postinduction level,craving for healthy food was significantly higher in the experimental group but not in the control group after exercise.Compared to the post-exercise period,the craving for healthy food significantly increased and the craving for unhealthy food significantly decreased in the experimental group,while there was no significant change in the control group.Exercise was beneficial in increasing positive emotions and decreasing negative emotions,so the intervention group had significantly lower negative emotion scores and significantly higher positive emotions.Due to the early satisfaction of positive emotions,individuals did not need to rely on eating to relieve negative emotions after exercise,thus reducing cravings for sweets,snacks,etc.In addition,acute exercise reduces neuronal responses in brain regions associated with food reward(e.g.insula,orbitofrontal cortex,nucleus accumbens),thus reducing the individual’s craving for food.The three series of studies mentioned above show that exercise has a significant ameliorative effect on emotional eating.Exercise can improve emotional eating behaviour by reducing stress levels and increasing emotional regulation.Short bouts of moderateto-high intensity exercise can increase cravings for healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables,reduce cravings for unhealthy foods such as sweet snacks,and help establish healthier food preferences. |
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