The role of emotion regulation in childhood obesity: implications for prevention and treatment

Stress and negative emotions pose a major threat to public health, by increasing the risk of obesity. Since the management process for emotions (emotion regulation; ER) is developed in childhood, we present a novel conceptual framework model for the role of ER in the prevention and treatment of chil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNutrition research reviews Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 17 - 29
Main Authors Aparicio, E., Canals, J., Arija, V., De Henauw, S., Michels, N.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.06.2016
Subjects
Child
Children & youth
Emotional intelligence
Emotions
Exercise
Humans
Nutrition research
Obesity
Parents
Pediatric Obesity - psychology
Sedentary Lifestyle
Prevention
Obesity
Treatment
Children
Emotion regulation
ER emotion regulation
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Summary:Stress and negative emotions pose a major threat to public health, by increasing the risk of obesity. Since the management process for emotions (emotion regulation; ER) is developed in childhood, we present a novel conceptual framework model for the role of ER in the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. A narrative review of the literature by electronic database search (MEDLINE, Web of Knowledge and Scopus) was conducted of observational and interventional/experimental literature on ER and obesity and the underlying concepts. We also present an overview of ER intervention techniques. Our model indicates that childhood ER is a link between stress and obesity. Stress along with ineffective ER leads to abnormal cortisol patterns, emotional eating, sedentary lifestyle, reduction of physical activity, and sleep problems. Simultaneously, a healthy lifestyle could show benefits on ER and in developing adaptive ER strategies. In the development of obesity and ER, parents also play a role. By contrast, effective ER skills decrease obesity-related unhealthy behaviour and enhance protective factors, which boost health. The literature contains some observational studies of children but very few intervention studies, most of which are pilot or on-going studies. In conclusion, encouraging effective ER could be a useful new approach for combating and treating childhood obesity. Future ER intervention studies are needed to confirm the validity of this model in children.
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ISSN:0954-4224
1475-2700
DOI:10.1017/S0954422415000153