Eating styles, self-control and obesity indicators. The moderating role of obesity status and dieting history on restrained eating

We examined whether obesity status and dieting history affected the associations of eating styles with measured obesity indicators and self-control among Finnish men (n = 2325) and women (n = 2699) aged 25–75 years. Uncontrolled and emotional eating were positively associated with obesity and reversely with self-control. Among obese subjects and current/past dieters, higher restrained eating was related to lower adiposity, uncontrolled and emotional eating, and higher self-control while these associations were opposite among normal weight subjects and never dieters. These results suggest that restrained eating may be related to better weight control among those who need and/or are motivated to lose weight while among others it may indicate problems with eating.