• Anna Massey and Andrew J Hill.
• Academic Unit of Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences, Institute of Health Research, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, 101 Clarendon Road, Leeds LS2 9LJ, UK.
• Appetite. 2012 Jun 1; 58 (3): 781-5.

AbstractEvidence linking food restriction and food craving is equivocal. This study investigated whether dieting was associated with a greater frequency of food craving. Dieting to lose weight was distinguished from watching so as not to gain weight. Participants were 129 women (mean age=41 yrs): 52 were currently dieting to lose weight, 40 were watching their weight, and 37 were non-dieters. They completed a food craving record after every food craving, a food diary, and a daily mood assessment over 7-days. Of the 393 craving incidents recorded, dieters experienced significantly more food cravings than non-dieters, with watchers intermediate. Chocolate was the most craved food (37% of cravings) but neither the types of food, the proportion of cravings leading to eating (∼70%), the situations in which cravings occurred, nor the time since the last eating episode differed between groups. Compared with non-dieters, dieters experienced stronger cravings that were more difficult to resist, and for foods they were restricting eating. Watchers showed similarities in experience both to dieters (low hunger) and non-dieters (lower craving intensity). These results support an association between dieting and food craving, the usefulness of distinguishing dieting to lose weight and watching, and suggest a need for further experimental investigation of actual food restriction on food craving experiences.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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