Investigating why people ‘comfort’ eat A new research project at
NUI Galway aims to better understand the underlying causes of
comfort eating, which may stem from childhood. Comfort or
emotional eating happens when we are not hungry but perhaps in
need of stress relief or a reward. NUI Galway researchers are
conducting a study, which aims to examine the influence of
emotional factors in childhood on comfort eating and weight.
They have devised a questionnaire which investigates these
issues, and will also be conducting individual interviews.
Volunteers are being sought to take part in this study, the only
requirement being that participants are over-18. “We’re hoping
to explore the relationship between a range of factors, such as
how people learned to cope with their emotions in childhood, or
how people relate to others, and how this influences eating
patterns and BMI in adulthood”, explains Roisín Finnegan, who is
a Trainee Clinical Psychologist and carrying out this research
under the supervision of Dr Jona