Is Emotional Eating Linked To Being Overweight?

For some people emotional eating is a massive problem and will be the sole reason why they are overweight.  For other people binge eating will be less of a problem and happen less frequently but will still make losing weight much more difficult than it should be.

Emotional eating occurs when we eat in response to our moods and our feelings and not because we are feeling hungry.  Emotional eating occurs when we let our feelings and not our body dictate what we eat and we use food as a way of dealing with the negative emotions in our lives.  Emotional eating has never been classified as a true eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia but it affects many more people and can have a great impact on their lives.

Emotional eating would not be such a problem if we only craved healthy foods but no one ever turned to carrot sticks when they were in need of comfort.  It is always food that is high in fat, calories or sugar that we turn to when we are in need of cheering up.

Emotional eating is definitely linked to being overweight.  It may not be the only reason why a person is overweight but for some people it will be the most important reason.  Other reasons for being overweight will include an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise and all of these issues need to be tackled before a healthy weight can be achieved.

Compulsive overeating and binge eating are a problem for millions of people around the world but help is available from many different sources to help overcome the problems associated with emotional eating.