Are Intuitive Eating and Eating Disorder Symptomatology Opposite Poles of the Same Construct?

Two studies explored whether intuitive eating (i.e., eating based on physiological hunger and satiety cues rather than situational and emotional cues) is a distinct construct from low levels of eating disorder (ED) symptomatology among college women. Previous research has demonstrated that high levels of ED symptomatology are related to lower levels of well-being. Therefore, if intuitive eating is a distinct construct, then it should be associated with indices of well-being above and beyond the variance accounted for by ED symptomatology. Findings revealed that two intuitive eating components (i.e., eating for physical rather than emotional reasons and reliance on internal hunger and satiety cues) made unique contributions to each well-being measure, whereas the remaining intuitive eating component (i.e., unconditional permission to eat) overlapped substantially with low levels of ED symptomatology.