How Do Kids Become Emotional Eaters?

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Emotional eating is so ingrained in our society that it is often not considered abnormal or problematic. No one would bat an eye if you told them you were so nervous that you couldn’t stop eating chips or that you were so sad that you ate an entire carton of ice cream. Yet, most parents would not want to pass this habit on to their children. So is there anything that you can do? Research provides some insight into why emotional eating is so common and what parents can do to teach their children eating habits that are better for their physical and mental health.

What Is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating is any eating that occurs in response to emotions. Emotional eating is usually not driven by hunger or feelings of fullness but rather internal emotional states. It often occurs with the purpose of distracting from emotions or coping with negative emotions, but can also occur in response to positive emotions. Common emotions that elicit emotional eating include anxiety, sadness, boredom, loneliness, and insecurity. Emotional eating is very common among both adults and children. Research finds that up to 63% of children engage in emotional eating.

Why Should We Care about Emotional Eating?

Given how common and accepted emotional eating is, you might be wondering whether it really matters. Research suggests that it does, since emotional eating likely puts children at risk for eating disorders and unhealthy eating practices. Research finds that emotional eating is linked with disordered eating and body image issues. Researchers have found that, when they use an intervention to reduce emotional eating, body image also improved. Research has also linked emotional eating to eating more sweet/salty foods and sugary drinks. Research consistently finds that the opposite of emotional eating, intuitive eating (translation: eating based on hunger and stopping when you feel full) is linked to better mental and physical health.

The Development of Emotional Eating

What is really interesting about emotional eating is that researchers do not believe that we are born emotional eaters. Our nervous systems are actually designed to shut down digestion in times of high emotion so that our body can focus on escaping danger rather than needing to eat. Imagine running from a predator and having to stop for a snack and you will understand why emotional eating doesn’t make sense— we should want to eat less during times