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Cheat meals: a benign or ominous variant of binge eating behavior?

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 00:03 authored by Murray, SB, Pila, E, Jon MondJon Mond, Mitchison, D, Blashill, AJ, Sabiston, CM, Griffiths, S

Objective: Engagement in “cheat meals” has been recently documented as a socially endorsed dietary practice oriented towards pursuing physique ideals, and which bears qualitative semblance to disordered eating behavior. However, the clinical significance of this dietary practice remains unclear.

Methods: We recruited a sample of young adults (n = 248; 56% women; Mage = 19.29 ± 0.58) and examined the prevalence and characteristics of cheat meal engagement, including its associations with eating disorder pathology, psychological distress, and impairment in role functioning.

Results: Findings revealed that 89.1% of participants engaged in cheat meal consumption that was either planned or spontaneous, with planned cheat meals being predominantly aimed at managing food cravings and sustaining strict dietary regimens. Among men, the frequency of cheat meal engagement was positively associated with global eating disorder symptoms (p = 0.04), and objective binge episodes (p = 0.03), however cheat meals were not associated with psychological distress or clinical impairment for either gender (p > 0.05).

Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that cheat meal engagement is commonly endorsed among young adults, and particularly among men. Moreover, cheat meals may reflect psychopathological properties akin to binge episodes, although do not confer psychological distress. Future research is urged in elucidating the definitional properties of cheat meal engagement, and examining clinical implications for this widespread dietary practice.

History

Publication title

Appetite

Volume

130

Pagination

274-278

ISSN

0195-6663

Department/School

School of Health Sciences

Publisher

Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd

Place of publication

24-28 Oval Rd, London, England, Nw1 7Dx

Rights statement

Copyright 2018 Elsevier Ltd.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Health education and promotion

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