Emotional and Uncontrolled Eating Mediate the Well-Being-Adiposity Relationship in Women but Not in Men.

Women reported higher emotional eating and cognitive restraint scores than men.

• Differences were statistically significant for emotional eating (p = 0.017) and cognitive restraint (p = 0.034)
• Sample consisted of 123 adults (35.6 ± 7.9 years; 63.4% women) with overweight and obesity
• Eating behaviors were assessed using the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R21 (TFEQ-R21)

Women showed greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet than men.

• The difference in Mediterranean diet adherence was statistically significant (p < 0.001)
• Diet quality was assessed using the 17-item MedDiet questionnaire
• This was a cross-sectional study design

In women, well-being and diet quality were inversely associated with adiposity, while emotional and uncontrolled eating were related to higher adiposity and poorer biochemical markers.

• Associations were examined using linear regression and path analyses
• Adiposity parameters included BMI, body fat, waist and hip circumferences
• Well-being was measured using the WHO-5 questionnaire
• Biochemical parameters were also evaluated as outcome measures

Emotional and uncontrolled eating mediated the relationship between well-being and adiposity only in women, not in men.

• Mediation effects were examined using path analyses
• This sex-specific mediation effect was a primary finding of the study
• The mediation was not observed in the male subsample despite similar analytical approaches

In men, well-being was positively associated with diet quality, while higher stress, cognitive restraint, and poorer diet quality were linked to greater adiposity.

• Perceived stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
• Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)
• The pattern of associations in men was distinct from that observed in women, with diet quality playing a more central role

Women exhibit a higher prevalence of emotional eating and mental health problems, which may contribute to sex-specific differences in adiposity.

• Sex and gender are noted to influence dietary habits, eating behaviors, mental health, and obesity risk
• This background context motivated the stratified-by-sex analytical approach
• The study population included adults with overweight and obesity (n = 123)