Mentzelou Maria, Papadopoulou Sousana K, Psara Evmorfia, Alexatou Olga, Koimtsidis Theodosis, Giaginis Constantinos
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, Greece.
Department of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, International Hellenic University, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Pediatr Rep. 2025 Jun 13;17(3):66. doi: 10.3390/pediatric17030066.
Emotional eating has been recognized as the tendency to eat in response to emotions, being recognized as a crucial risk factor for recurrent weight gain. Emotional eating has been interrelated with obesity/overweight, depression, anxiety, stress, and specific dietary habits at any stage of human life, negatively affecting human quality of life. The present study aims to summarize and explore the effects of emotional eating on children and how these effects may, in turn, influence their mental and physical health at the next stages of their lives. : This is a narrative review of the presently existing clinical evidence concerning the impact of emotional eating in children. A comprehensive search of the most reliable online databases, e.g., PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, was performed utilizing relevant keywords. Several inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to collect only cross-sectional, longitudinal, descriptive, and case-control surveys in children's populations. The current clinical evidence suggests that parental behavior may increase the risk of emotional eating in children. Several pieces of evidence also implied potential associations of emotional eating with overweight/obesity and mental disorders in children. Children's dietary habits may also affect their risk of developing emotional eating. : The prevalence of emotional eating is gradually increasing in the general population, and especially in children. Public strategies should be performed to educate parents to recognize potential emotional eating behaviors in their children and to adopt more healthy dietary habits for their children, even in the first months of their life. Educational programs should be organized in school communities to directly educate children on the benefits of healthy dietary patterns.
情绪化进食已被视为一种因情绪而进食的倾向，被认为是体重反复增加的关键风险因素。在人类生命的任何阶段，情绪化进食都与肥胖/超重、抑郁、焦虑、压力以及特定饮食习惯相关联，对人类生活质量产生负面影响。本研究旨在总结并探讨情绪化进食对儿童的影响，以及这些影响如何反过来在他们生命的下一阶段影响其身心健康。：这是一篇关于目前现有临床证据的叙述性综述，这些证据涉及情绪化进食对儿童的影响。利用相关关键词，对最可靠的在线数据库进行了全面搜索，如PubMed、Scopus、Web of Science和谷歌学术。采用了多项纳入和排除标准，仅收集儿童群体中的横断面、纵向、描述性和病例对照研究。目前的临床证据表明，父母的行为可能会增加儿童情绪化进食的风险。一些证据还暗示了情绪化进食与儿童超重/肥胖和精神障碍之间的潜在关联。儿童的饮食习惯也可能影响他们出现情绪化进食的风险。：在普通人群中，尤其是在儿童中，情绪化进食的患病率正在逐渐上升。应采取公共策略，教育家长认识到孩子潜在的情绪化进食行为，并为孩子养成更健康的饮食习惯，即使在孩子生命的最初几个月也是如此。应在学校社区组织教育项目，直接向儿童传授健康饮食模式的益处。
