Interoception, eating behaviour and body weight.

BACKGROUND

Interoception refers to the process of identifying and listening to internal bodily signals, which may be a modifiable determinant of appetite regulation and weight gain. The objective was to examine whether the extent to which self-reported interoception is associated with higher BMI is explained by eating behavior traits.

METHODS

UK adults (N = 1181, 49% female, 53% with overweight/obesity) completed validated self-report measures of interoception, habitual tendencies to eat in response to satiety signals (intuitive eating), emotional over-eating and other eating traits.

RESULTS

Poorer self-reported ability to detect interoceptive signals (deficits in interoceptive accuracy) was predictive of higher BMI (r = - 0.07 (95% CI -0.13; -0.01), p < .05). In parallel mediation analyses, participants with poorer interoceptive accuracy were significantly less likely to report considering satiety signals when eating and this explained the cross-sectional association between interoceptive accuracy and higher BMI. There was also some evidence that participants with poorer interoceptive accuracy were more likely to report emotional overeating and this also in part explained why interoceptive accuracy was predictive of higher BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

Deficits in interoception may decrease the likelihood that satiety signals are integrated into eating behaviour related decision making and in doing so contribute to higher BMI.