Investigating the psychology of eating after exercise — a scoping review
Increasing food intake or eating unhealthily after exercise may undermine attempts to manage weight, thereby contributing to poor population-level health. This scoping review aimed to synthesise the evidence on the psychology of changes to eating after exercise and explore why changes to eating afte...
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Cambridge University Press
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Nutritional Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2048679024000995/type/journal_article |
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| author | Alice Porter Russell Jago Luke A Robles Elin Cawley Peter J. Rogers Danielle Ferriday Jeffrey M. Brunstrom |
| author_facet | Alice Porter Russell Jago Luke A Robles Elin Cawley Peter J. Rogers Danielle Ferriday Jeffrey M. Brunstrom |
| author_sort | Alice Porter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Increasing food intake or eating unhealthily after exercise may undermine attempts to manage weight, thereby contributing to poor population-level health. This scoping review aimed to synthesise the evidence on the psychology of changes to eating after exercise and explore why changes to eating after exercise occur. A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance. Search terms relating to exercise, eating behaviour, and compensatory eating were used. All study designs were included. Research in children, athletes, or animals was excluded. No country or date restrictions were applied. Twenty-three studies were identified. Ten experimental studies (nine acute, one chronic) manipulated the psychological experience of exercise, one intervention study directly targeted compensatory eating, seven studies used observational methods (e.g. diet diaries, 24-h recall) to directly measure compensatory eating after exercise, and five questionnaire studies measured beliefs about eating after exercise. Outcomes varied and included energy intake (kcal/kJ), portion size, food intake, food choice, food preference, dietary lapse, and self-reported compensatory eating. We found that increased consumption of energy-dense foods occurred after exercise when exercise was perceived as less enjoyable, less autonomous, or hard work. Personal beliefs, exercise motivation, and exercise enjoyment were key psychological determinants of changes to eating after exercise. Individuals may consume additional food to refuel their energy stores after exercise (psychological compensatory eating), or consume unhealthy or energy dense foods to reward themselves after exercise, especially if exercise is experienced negatively (post-exercise licensing), however the population-level prevalence of these behaviours is unknown. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-939f18059119405dacf092de7f61f207 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2048-6790 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
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| series | Journal of Nutritional Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-939f18059119405dacf092de7f61f2072025-01-27T09:07:13ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Nutritional Science2048-67902025-01-011410.1017/jns.2024.99Investigating the psychology of eating after exercise — a scoping reviewAlice Porter0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5281-7694Russell Jago1Luke A Robles2Elin Cawley3Peter J. Rogers4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3525-3473Danielle Ferriday5Jeffrey M. Brunstrom6NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKNIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKNIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKNutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKNIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKNIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKIncreasing food intake or eating unhealthily after exercise may undermine attempts to manage weight, thereby contributing to poor population-level health. This scoping review aimed to synthesise the evidence on the psychology of changes to eating after exercise and explore why changes to eating after exercise occur. A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance. Search terms relating to exercise, eating behaviour, and compensatory eating were used. All study designs were included. Research in children, athletes, or animals was excluded. No country or date restrictions were applied. Twenty-three studies were identified. Ten experimental studies (nine acute, one chronic) manipulated the psychological experience of exercise, one intervention study directly targeted compensatory eating, seven studies used observational methods (e.g. diet diaries, 24-h recall) to directly measure compensatory eating after exercise, and five questionnaire studies measured beliefs about eating after exercise. Outcomes varied and included energy intake (kcal/kJ), portion size, food intake, food choice, food preference, dietary lapse, and self-reported compensatory eating. We found that increased consumption of energy-dense foods occurred after exercise when exercise was perceived as less enjoyable, less autonomous, or hard work. Personal beliefs, exercise motivation, and exercise enjoyment were key psychological determinants of changes to eating after exercise. Individuals may consume additional food to refuel their energy stores after exercise (psychological compensatory eating), or consume unhealthy or energy dense foods to reward themselves after exercise, especially if exercise is experienced negatively (post-exercise licensing), however the population-level prevalence of these behaviours is unknown.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2048679024000995/type/journal_articleeating behaviourexercisefood intakelicensingpsychological compensatory eating |
| spellingShingle | Alice Porter Russell Jago Luke A Robles Elin Cawley Peter J. Rogers Danielle Ferriday Jeffrey M. Brunstrom Investigating the psychology of eating after exercise — a scoping review Journal of Nutritional Science eating behaviour exercise food intake licensing psychological compensatory eating |
| title | Investigating the psychology of eating after exercise — a scoping review |
| title_full | Investigating the psychology of eating after exercise — a scoping review |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the psychology of eating after exercise — a scoping review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the psychology of eating after exercise — a scoping review |
| title_short | Investigating the psychology of eating after exercise — a scoping review |
| title_sort | investigating the psychology of eating after exercise a scoping review |
| topic | eating behaviour exercise food intake licensing psychological compensatory eating |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2048679024000995/type/journal_article |
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