Localization of Intuitive Eating Scale-2 and Its Application in Chinese Obese Patients with Primary Hypertension

Intuitive eating (IE) is largely considered to be engaging in behaviors consistent with eating in reaction to one’s physiological appetite and fullness signals instead of environmental stimuli and emotional cues. The Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2) was developed in order to assess the outlook and behaviors of eating on four subscales: unconditional permission to eat (UPE), eating because of physiological as opposed to emotional reasons (EPR), dependence on physiological hunger and satiety cues (RHSC), and body-food choice congruence (B-FCC). Obesity is a frequent comorbidity in Chinese patients with hypertension and nearly 3/4 of such patients have eating problems. The current study intended to validate the psychological measurement properties of the IES-2 Chinese Version (IES-2-Chi) in an obese population with hypertension. For the IES-2-Chi, Cronbach's ɑ = 0.947, split-half reliability was 0.850, the test-retest reliability was 0.889, chi-square/degree of freedom ratio (χ2/df) = 1.318, root mean square error approximation (RMSEA) = 0.040, root mean square residual (RMR) = 0.053, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.902, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.982, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.978, incremental fit index (IFI) = 0.983, and normal fit index (NFI) = 0.932. The secondary study objective was to evaluate IE levels of obese Chinese patients with hypertension. IE was correlated positively with self-efficacy, body image, and frequency of eating vegetables and fruits, but negatively with body mass index, hemoglobin, diastolic blood pressure, hematocrit, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and frequency of eating fast food.Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that the IES-2-Chi has good reliability and validity in obese patients with primary hypertension and can be used to evaluate IE levels of these patients. Based on the current study results, future studies may be designed to develop intervention strategies using IE to utilize its influential factors in obese patients with primary hypertension.

Feel Good, Eat Better: The Role of Self-Compassion and Body Esteem in Mothers’ Healthy Eating Behaviours

Mothers’ eating behaviours are important to ensure the health and well-being of themselves and their families. Recent research has pointed to self-compassion, defined as extending kindness to oneself in times of perceived inadequacy or general suffering, as a trait associated with healthy forms of eating, such as intuitive eating, and reduced maladaptive forms of eating, such as emotional eating. However, little is known about the psychological mechanism through which self-compassion relates to healthy eating behaviours. This study examined 100 mothers’ levels of self-compassion, body esteem and eating behaviours. Structural equation modelling revealed that self-compassion was positively associated with diet quality and intuitive eating, while being negatively associated with emotional eating. Moreover, these links occurred, in part, due to higher body esteem. This points to a mechanism through which self-compassion may positively contribute to mothers’ healthy eating behaviours. The implications for eating outcomes and women’s health are discussed.