emotional eating

American  

[ih-moh-shuh-nl ee-ting] / ɪˈmoʊ ʃə nl ˈi tɪŋ /

noun

1. eating, often excessively, as a response to stress, boredom, unhappiness, or other emotional condition, rather than as a response to physical hunger.

   Prolonged loneliness can lead to a number of unhealthy habits, including emotional eating.

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Etymology

Origin of emotional eating

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Sixty-six per cent of women nightshift workers experienced emotional eating and another study suggests they are around 1.5 times more likely to be overweight or obese compared to women working day shifts.

From Science Daily

But the paper notes individuals with the alcohol-protective alleles also had worse health outcomes in certain areas: more lifetime tobacco use, more emotional eating, more Graves' disease and hyperthyroidism.

From Science Daily

Emotional eating and bouts of uncontrolled eating are more likely to be associated with eating disorder symptoms and with having a worse quality diet, including lower intakes of vegetable and higher intakes of nutrient-poor foods.

From Salon

Experiential avoidance can take many forms, but a common method is emotional eating, which is the tendency to eat in response to negative emotions.

From Salon

“For so long, they’ve been told things like ‘Oh, this is just emotional eating’ or ‘You’re out of control’ or ‘It’s because you have no willpower’ or ‘Gluttony’s a sin,’ or whatever these things are that people explain it away, without realizing that they have a treatable condition,” one expert said.

From New York Times