Interoceptive sensibility, intuitive eating, binge, and disordered eating behavior among individuals with obesity: A comparative study with the general population.

This study examined the relationships between interoceptive sensibility (the self-reported ability to perceive internal bodily signals), intuitive eating (eating in response to physiological hunger and satiety cues), and disordered eating behaviors—including binge, emotional, restrained, and external eating—among individuals with obesity (n = 57) compared to normal-weight controls (n = 29). Findings indicated that individuals with obesity exhibited lower capacities in certain interoceptive dimensions, particularly "trusting" bodily sensations, alongside reduced intuitive eating and increased emotional and binge eating. Regression and mediation analyses revealed that eating for physical rather than emotional reasons and reliance on hunger and satiety cues served as protective factors against binge eating and mediated the relationship between external eating and binge eating in both groups. The results suggest that targeting subjective interoceptive sensibility and intuitive eating, especially fostering trust and reliance on internal food-related cues, may be beneficial in psychotherapeutic interventions for disordered eating and obesity management.