College-aged women are at risk for eating disorders and disordered eating, which present serious health concerns. Two potent risk factors for eating disorders, body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint, are common among female college students. Intuitive eating is a strategy in which instead of listening to the predominant 'diet culture' and focusing on things like calories and energy balance, individuals practice listening to their internal physiological signals to decide when and what to eat and when to stop. Based on current research, intuitive eating has been shown to foster body satisfaction and healthy eating attitudes among women. The proposed pilot study will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an intuitive eating program for University of Delaware college women. In addition, this study will test the hypothesis that the intuitive eating program will reduce cognitive factors of body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint in females compared to a waitlisted group. Additionally, the investigators expect this reduction in dietary restraint to be associated with less disordered eating behavior. Exploratory aims include measuring engagement in disordered eating behaviors and changes in weight over the study period. This preliminary data will be used to estimate effect sizes for larger future trials.
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Dietary Restraint
Timeframe: 5 weeks
Body Appreciation: survey
Timeframe: 5 weeks
Intuitive Eating
Timeframe: 5 weeks
Interoceptive Awareness
Timeframe: 5 weeks