The Lived Experiences of Obese Young Women about Emotional Eating Triggers: A Phenomenological Study

Emotional eating is a behavior of eating without physiological need that occurs in response to negative emotions and is harmful to health. Based on research evidence; some other factors, in addition to negative emotions, contribute to the activation and triggering of emotional eating. Identifying these factors is essential for effective management of emotional eating. Emotional eating is also more common in obese people and women. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explain the lived experiences of young obese women about the triggers of emotional eating.

This study was performed by qualitative method with hermeneutic phenomenological approach in 2020. Participants in this study were 17 young women living in Kermanshah or Karaj with the experiences of emotional eating and a body mass index of 30 or higher. They were selected using purposive sampling method with maximum diversity approach. Data were collected through in-depth individual and face- to- face interviews and analyzed using the seven-step method of Dickelman.

In analyzing the participants' lived experiences, a major theme called "emotional eating triggers" was identified. This theme was formed by 4 sub-themes: negative emotions, mental symptoms, physical symptoms, and special events.

The findings of the current study showed that although negative emotions are the central trigger of emotional eating, they are not enough for it to occur. Therefore, in order to have a deep understanding of lived experiences related to the occurrence of emotional eating behavior, it is necessary to simultaneously pay attention to the multiple dimensions of its activator and trigger, including negative emotions, mental symptoms (rumination of negative thoughts, and mental temptation to eat), physical symptoms (gastrointestinal symptoms, fatigue, pain, etc.), as well as events that specifically trigger emotional eating.