Comparison of two questionnaires for assessment of emotional eating in people undergoing treatment for obesity

Abstract

Purpose: Emotional eating may contribute to weight gain and difficulty with weight loss. Questionnaires are currently the primary method used to identify this behaviour but there is no gold standard for detecting emotional eating, making it difficult to know which questionnaire to use for this purpose. This study assesses two questionnaires validated for assessment of emotional eating in patients with obesity, with the aim of investigating their interchangeability in the clinical setting. Methods: 387 adult participants were recruited from the obesity treatment service at a tertiary metropolitan hospital. Responses were obtained for the 25-item Emotional Eating Scale (EES) and the 4-item cop..