Hunger sensitivity: How high interoceptive awareness of hunger impacts eating behaviors and body mass index in those over 40

Abstract

The present study examined the concept of hunger sensitivity as theorized in a study conducted by Walker et al. (2015a), who determined that hunger sensitivity could be assessed using their newly developed Hunger Sensitivity Scale. This present study continued their work and used the Hunger Sensitivity Scale to determine what effects high hunger sensitivity had on individual BMI and maladaptive eating patterns in a sample of participants between the ages of 40-65. Participants completed a Qualtrics survey that included demographic data, the Hunger Sensitivity Scale and the ThreeFactor Eating Questionnaire R18V2. For the first research question, a two-tailed Pearson correlation and an independent samples t-test were used to determine whether or not high hunger sensitivity was related to higher BMI in adults within the sample age group. Results showed no relationship between the two variables. For the second research question, a two-tailed Pearson correlation was used to determine whether or not high hunger sensitivity was related to higher scores on the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire R18V2. This measure is used to quantitatively score maladaptive eating patterns that are divided up into three different domains (uncontrolled eating, cognitive restraint, emotional eating) as well as a total score. The results of this analysis showed that high hunger sensitivity had a small correlation with the TFEQ-R18V2 total score and the uncontrolled eating and emotional eating domains. There was no correlation found for the cognitive restraint domain. Test scores were calculated using Microsoft Excel and all statistical analysis was completed using IBM SPSS Statistics. Discussion of the study results include comparison to the results of the Walker et al. (2015a) study, as well as discussion of ANOVA and multiple linear regression results for demographic data. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.