Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Interventions and public health nutrition

It is not how much you crave but what you do with it that counts: behavioural responses to food craving during weight management

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 625–630 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

The relationship between food craving and dieting is mixed and uncertain, with little evidence during active weight management. Accordingly, the frequency and nature of food cravings were investigated in people attending a commercial weight management programme.

Subjects/Methods:

An online survey was completed by 2932 participants (97% female, mean age=43.0 years, mean body mass index=31.6 kg/m2). Assessments included the Control of Eating Questionnaire, measuring the frequency, intensity, specificity and behaviour following food cravings. Others included body weight, dietary restraint, perceived success of dieting and mood. Forty-two per cent of the sample completed a second survey 7 weeks later.

Results:

Cross-sectional analysis showed those currently dieting to lose weight (55% of sample) had significantly fewer, less intense and more resisted food cravings than those watching what they ate so as not to gain weight (35% of sample). Cravings were fewer for chocolate and other sweet foods. Longitudinally, food cravings decreased over the period of weight loss (2.0 kg). Fewer foods were craved and the cravings were less intense, easier to resist and to control. Eating in response to food cravings was a significant predictor of weight change.

Conclusions:

People with obesity and recent experience of resisting eating in response to food cravings lost more weight over the next 7 weeks. Feeling in control of eating was also associated with greater weight loss. This suggests it is the behaviour that follows food cravings rather than simply their frequency or intensity that contributes to successful weight management. This has implications for interventions to help address food cravings.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Meule A, Westenhofer J, Kubler A . Food cravings mediate the relationship between rigid, but not flexible control of eating behavior and dieting success. Appetite 2011; 57: 582–584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Massey A, Hill AJ . Dieting and food craving: a descriptive, quasi-prospective study. Appetite 2012; 58: 781–785.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Potenza MN, Grilo CM . How relevant is food craving to obesity and its treatment? Front Psychiatry 2014; 5: 164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lowe MR, Levine AS . Eating motives and the controversy over dieting: eating less than needed versus less than wanted. Obes Res 2005; 13: 797–806.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hill AJ . The psychology of food craving. Proc Nutr Soc 2007; 66: 277–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Martin CK, O‘Neil PM, Pawlow L . Changes in food cravings during low calorie and very-low-calorie diets. Obes 2006; 14: 115–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gilhooly CH, Das SK, Golden JK, McCrory MA, Dallal GE, Saltzman E et al. Food cravings and energy regulation: the characteristics of craved foods and their relationship with eating behaviors and weight change during 6 months of dietary energy restriction. Int J Obes 2007; 31: 1849–1858.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Apovian CM, Aronne L, Rubino D, Still C, Wyatt H, Burns C et al. A randomized, phase 3 trial of naltrexone SR/bupropion SR on weight and obesity-related risk factors (COR-II). Obes 2013; 21: 935–943.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Batra P, Krupa Das S, Salinardi T, Robinson L, Saltzman E, Scott T et al. Relationship of cravings with weight loss and hunger. Results from a 6 month worksite weight loss intervention. Appetite 2013; 69: 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Meule A, Lutz A, Vögele C, Kübler A . Food cravings discriminate differentially between successful and unsuccessful dieters and non-dieters: validation of the food cravings questionnaire in German. Appetite 2012; 58: 88–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. The English Indices of Deprivation 2010: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/indices2010.

  12. Dalton M, Finlayson G, Hill AJ, Blundell JE . Preliminary validation and principal components analysis of the Control of Eating Questionnaire (CoEQ) for the experience of food craving. Eur J Clin Nutr 2015; 69: 1313–1317.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Karlsson J, Perrson LO, Sjöström L, Sullivan M . Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) in obese men and women. Results from the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study. Int J Obes 2000; 24: 1715–1725.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Meule A, Papies EK, Kubler A . Differentiating between successful and unsuccessful dieters. Validity and reliability of the Perceived Self-Regulatory Success in Dieting Scale. Appetite 2012; 58: 822–826.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Lovibond SH, Lovibond PF . Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. 2nd edn. Psychology Foundation: Sydney, Australia, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Westenhoefer J, Stunkard AJ, Pudel V . Validation of the flexible and rigid control dimensions of dietary restraint. Int J Eat Disord 1999; 26: 53–64.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Witt AA, Katterman SN, Lowe MR . Assessing the three types of dieting in the Three-Factor model of dieting. The Dieting and Weight History Questionnaire. Appetite 2013; 63: 24–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Blechert J, Naumann E, Schmitz J, Herbert BM, Tuschen-Caffier B . Startling sweet temptations: hedonic chocolate deprivation modulates experience, eating behavior, and eyeblink startle. PLos One 2014; 9: e85679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Polivy J, Coleman J, Herman CP . The effect of deprivation on food cravings and eating behavior in restrained and unrestrained eaters. Int J Eat Disord 2005; 38: 301–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Hill AJ, Heaton-Brown L . The experience of food craving: a prospective investigation in healthy women. J Psychosom Res 1994; 38: 801–814.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. White MA, Whisenhunt BL, Williamson DA, Greenway FL, Netemeyer RG . Development and validation of the food‐craving inventory. Obes Res 2002; 10: 107–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Cepeda-Benito A, Gleaves DH, Williams TL, Erath SA . The development and validation of the state and trait Food-Cravings Questionnaires. Behav Ther 2000; 31: 151–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Guthrie H, Tetley D, Hill AJ . Quasi-prospective, real-life monitoring of food craving post-bariatric surgery: comparison with overweight and normal weight women. Clin Obes 2014; 4: 136–142.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Waters A, Hill AJ, Waller G . Bulimics’ responses to food cravings: is binge-eating a product of hunger or emotional state? Behav Res Ther 2001; 39: 877–886.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Ng L, Davis C . Cravings and food consumption in binge eating disorder. Eat Behav 2013; 14: 472–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Kemps E, Tiggemann M . A role for mental imagery in the experience and reduction of food cravings. Front Psychiatry 2015; 5: 193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Giuliani NR, Calcott RD, Berkman ET . Piece of cake. Cognitive reappraisal of food craving. Appetite 2013; 64: 56–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Lacaille J, Ly J, Zacchia N, Bourkas S, Glaser E, Knauper B . The effects of three mindfulness skills on chocolate cravings. Appetite 2014; 76: 101–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to SW for collaborating in this research. No funding was sought or received for this research and the company had no role in study design, data analysis, in the decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. Both authors designed and conducted this work, drafted the manuscript and approved the final version.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Institute of Health Research, School of Medicine, The University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    E F Smithson & A J Hill

Authors
  1. E F Smithson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A J Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E F Smithson.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

AJH has received payment as an advisor for Slimming World. The remaining authors declare no other conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Smithson, E., Hill, A. It is not how much you crave but what you do with it that counts: behavioural responses to food craving during weight management. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 625–630 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.235

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.235

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links