Study: Dieters and emotional eaters are the feeders in relationships

By Alice Clifford via SWNS

Dieters and emotional eaters are the "feeders" in relationships, suggests a new study.

Researchers found that emotional eaters use their diet to manage their emotions, eating when sad or angry, happy or stressed.

The results also show that often there are two feeders in relationships, especially when the couple think the same way in terms of feeding to avoid waste, using food to show affection, or even just offloading their own food to their partner.

It shows that social pressure within relationships can play a key role in what couples eat.

The study, published in the journal Appetite, looked at the eating habits of 76 couples.

Co-author Professor Jane Ogden, of the UK's University of Surrey, said: "People often feed others even when they are not hungry for reasons such as love, waste avoidance or as a sign of status - but this new study aims to understand how this behavior functions within a relationship.

"What is fascinating is that we found that people who use food as a tool to aid their own emotional well-being were also encouraging their partners to overeat.

“Of course, this is worrying as these behaviors can lead people to become obese, and other long-term health issues."

Being overweight or obese can lead to a shorter life expectancy, a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes, and can affect mental health.

The results collected by the team at the University of Surrey matched up with existing information and studies on this subject.

Prof. Ogden added: "This research confirms that social pressures within a relationship play a key role in our food intake.

“The next step for our research is to find out whether these feeder processes are the same within other social groups, such as friendships, families and same-sex relationships."