Comer emocional de pessoas com doenças metabólicas atendidas de um hospital universitário no Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To identify the presence of emotional eating in users with metabolic diseases. METHOD: Cross-sectional and descriptive study, conducted with users who presented some metabolic alteration, followed up in an endocrinology outpatient clinic of a university hospital in the central region of RS. For data collection a form with socioeconomic and self-care questions was used, and to identify the perception about emotional eating the Emotional Eater Questionnaire was used. Descriptive and analytical analyses were performed, and a 5% significance level was considered. RESULTS: Fifty users participated, with a predominance of women, residents of the city where the research was carried out, aged between 31 and 59 years. A higher percentage of users who underwent some type of psychological counseling and had a diagnosis of (pre)diabetes was evident. Regarding emotional eating, the classification as emotional eaters predominated, followed by low emotional eaters, very emotional eaters and non-emotional eaters. CONCLUSIONS: It was identified that patients with metabolic alteration fall into some level of emotional eaters. Using food as a strategy to relieve emotional pain may, over time, impair health status. STUDY CONTRIBUTIONS: It is necessary to establish a relationship of trust with the user in order to identify risk factors and devise individual, non-restrictive strategies that avoid sentimental triggers involved in the act of eating.