Impact of an Intuitive Eating Intervention on Disordered Eating Risk Factors in Female-Identifying Undergraduates: A Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Trial

Abstract

Dietary restraint and low body appreciation are common among female-identifying undergraduates and are related to the development of disordered eating, which female-identifying undergraduates engage in throughout college. Training students in intuitive eating, an approach that promotes eating by internal cues, may be a way to ameliorate dietary restraint and low body appreciation, ultimately decreasing disordered eating. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a five-week intuitive eating intervention on dietary restraint, body appreciation, and intuitive eating in female-identifying undergraduates. A five-week intuitive eating intervention (NCT0394700) was facilitated by two Registered Dietitians. One treatment group (TG) (n = 7) and one waitlist control group (WLCG) (n = 7) participated in the trial. From baseline to post-intervention, there was a significant decrease in dietary restraint, t(12) = −2.88, p = 0.01, and a significant increase in intuitive eating, t(12) = 4.03, p = 0.002, in the TG compared to the WLCG. The intervention had replicable effects on all outcome variables. Measurements at the five-week follow-up suggested the impact was sustained. This study provides preliminary data suggesting an intuitive eating intervention may help improve disordered eating risk factors by decreasing dietary restraint and increasing intuitive eating in female-identifying undergraduates.