Eating attitudes and behaviors are affected by genetics, environment, hormones, the individual's current emotional state, socio-demographic characteristics, past experiences, cultural and religious beliefs, media, body perception, obesity, appetite, etc. It is affected by many factors. Changes in eating attitudes can cause some health problems such as eating disorders. When eating behavior, which is affected by more than one element, is considered from a psychological perspective, it is seen that it is closely related to emotions such as stress, tension, boredom, happiness, joy and excitement that people are frequently exposed to as a result of various events in daily life. In recent years, the importance of developing intuitive eating and eating awareness skills in acquiring healthy eating attitudes and behaviors has been emphasized. It is emphasized that intuitive eating and eating awareness can be an alternative to traditional energy-restricted diet therapy, especially in the treatment of weight management and eating behavior disorders. (1)
Intuitive eating is defined as a way of eating by listening to the physical hunger and satiety signals that the individual's body naturally gives and adapting to these signals. This concept is also stated as concepts such as non-diet approach, normal eating, smart eating and conscious eating. Intuitive eating is an adaptive dietary behavior that emphasizes eating in response to physiological hunger and satiety cues. The basic principle of intuitive eating is to gain “body wisdom”. Intuitive eating is also expressed as individuals knowing the amount and type of food their body needs, which is developed in response to body weight control without any special health problems (2). Satisfying one's physiological hunger emerges as a basic eating behavior in which the individual can stop eating without becoming oversaturated after ensuring sufficient food intake. Basic approach to intuitive eating; As long as the individual does not have any chronic disease (e.g. diabetes, food allergies), he/she instinctively makes choices to ensure nutritional balance and therefore there are no restrictions regarding food consumption diversity (3).
The concept of intuitive eating is based on three basic approaches:
1. Unconditional permission to eat (when hungry) what it comes out of and what food it desires),
2. Eating based on physical reasons rather than emotional reasons,
3. Eating based on physical hunger and satiety signals (determining when and how much to eat) (4).
The behavior of unconditionally allowing eating is explained as eating the desired food when a person feels physical hunger. Individuals participating in this eating strategy act only according to hunger signals, without thinking about what and how much to eat. It is stated that individuals who give themselves unconditional permission to eat do not exhibit overeating behavior due to their eating behavior controlled by physical hunger and satiety signals (2). Individuals who do not exhibit intuitive eating behavior stop eating behavior when they reach emotional satisfaction. It is stated that intuitive eating behavior develops with an innate awareness ability and that the individual acts with the principle of "eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full" (3).
It has been observed that individuals with intuitive eating ability tend to show eating behaviors that cause body weight gain at a lower level than individuals who do not consume intuitive food (5).
There is no causal effect of eating awareness on healthier eating. It is reported that it has an effective effect, promotes adequate and balanced nutrition with less energy intake and helps in healthy body weight loss. Jordan et al. In an intervention study conducted by , the intervention group was allowed to listen to music for 15 minutes and the individuals were helped to relax. During this time, correct breathing, sensations and focusing on the organs and limbs of the body were practiced and body awareness was tried to be created. The control group was allowed to listen only to music. After this intervention, the participants were asked to sit around a table and taste the crackers, raw almonds and colorful chocolate beads in 3 full bowls (separate bowls for each participant, but with the same amount of content), eat as much as they wanted and rate how delicious they were from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). They were asked to rate between ) As a result of the study, the intervention group received 24% less energy than the control group. � and it has also been stated that there is a causal link between eating awareness and food consumption. It is thought that this eating awareness may help reduce overconsumption of foods by providing focused and non-judgmental attention and awareness of current events (6).
Although intuitive eating and eating awareness seem similar, intuitive eating focuses more on the reasons that push the individual to eat (such as hunger and satiety signals); Eating awareness focuses on the individual's awareness of what, where and how to eat, his/her relationship with external factors, and not making judgments about food while the act of eating is taking place. For this reason, studies evaluating intuitive eating and eating awareness together and with different variables are increasing day by day. Studies investigating intuitive eating and eating awareness have generally been conducted on young and adult individuals, including adolescents. However, the studies are not considered sufficient to explain all aspects of these two new eating behavior approaches and to create common methods, especially in interventions. Further studies are needed. There are no intervention studies or applied techniques regarding these two eating behavior approaches in children in the literature. Interventions based on intuitive eating and eating awareness can offer a more holistic and long-term treatment approach than other traditional body weight management strategies alone. It is thought that new treatment strategies to be developed by using intuitive eating and eating awareness approaches together with other traditional methods in the treatment of body weight management and eating disorders will be promising, but more comprehensive large population studies should be conducted on this subject. (1)
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