A complex relationship between intuitive eating and diet quality among university students

Abstract

Intuitive Eating (IE) theory posits eating in response to internal hunger, and satiety cues minimize impulses to over-consume foods. To assess this relationship, 758 university students (55% male) completed the Intuitive Eating Scale 2 (IES-2) and the Diet History Questionnaire II (DHQ). The IES-2 includes a total score and four subscale scores; unconditional permission to eat (UPE), reliance on hunger and satiety cues (RHSC), eating for physical rather than emotional reasons (EPR), and body food choice congruence (BFCC). Using multiple regression analysis, IE total was not related to diet quality. EPR (ß =0.10, p ≤ .01) and BFCC (ß =0.29, p ≤ .001) were positively related to diet quality. UPE (ß = −0.15, p ≤ .001) and RHSC (ß = −0.08, p ≤ .05) were negatively related to diet quality. This study found an antipodal relationship between the subscales of IE and diet quality among university students.

Keywords:

• Diet quality
• healthy eating index
• hunger
• intuitive eating
• satiety

Data availability statement

Data are available upon request.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the [Institutional Review Board of the University of Houston.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.