What Are You Hungry for? The 9 Hunger Mindful Eating Online Randomized Controlled Trial

ObjectivesMindful eating (ME) has been receiving increased attention in the treatment of eating and weight disorders. In this context, the ME approach is assumed to help modify maladaptive eating behaviors. This work investigated the effects of a brief ME intervention that focused on the non-judgmental awareness of different motivations to eat in order to study this mechanism.MethodUsing a randomized controlled trial design, participants were allocated to an intervention group (IG; n = 87) or waitlist control group (W-CG; n = 137). For a 2-week training phase, participants of the IG were instructed to take a mindful moment to rate their different motivations to eat once per day. Self-report data on emotional eating, external eating, and loss of control eating (primary outcomes) and intuitive eating, ME, mental well-being, and self-compassion (secondary outcomes) were gathered online pre, post, and 3 months after the training. Latent change score (LCS) models were used to estimate shorter and longer term effects of the intervention.ResultsLCS revealed significant shorter and longer term effects of the training when comparing data of the IG with those of the W-CG regarding all primary (d = 0.38-0.61) and most secondary outcomes (d = 0.29-1.16).ConclusionsThe positive and sustainable effects of practicing this clearly outlined ME skill over a short period support the idea that ME might be a promising approach to enrich the current treatment of eating and weight disorders and aid in expanding our understanding of the underlying mechanisms on its application in the field.PreregistrationThis study was preregistered at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00012351).