Relationship between mindfulness, weight, and weight-related behaviors in college students: a systematic review

Introduction: College students are a high-risk group for rapid and significant weight gain, known as the "Freshman 15." Developing interventions that may prevent weight gain, assist with weight loss, and promote the adoption of a healthy lifestyle are needed. There is evidence that mindfulness approaches hold promise for managing weight and eating behaviors in adults. However, little is currently known about these relationships in college students. This review identifies the relationship between dietary intake, eating behaviors, physical activity, and weight and mindfulness for college students. Different types of mindfulness interventions used in this population and their effectiveness for weight loss and weight-related behavioral change are also explored. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Results: There is a negative relationship between mindfulness and unhealthy eating behaviors such as emotional eating and binge eating, as well a positive relationship between mindfulness and healthy eating behaviors. There is also some evidence for a positive relationship with physical activity, dietary intake, as well as better anthropometric indexes. Additionally, inverse relationships were found for mindful/intuitive eating practices and body mass index. A few studies conducted mediational analyses, with support for stress as a mediator in this relationship. Generalization of findings was limited by the study design of included articles, as there were a high number of cross-sectional studies and a limited number of longitudinal studies and randomized controlled trials. Conclusion: Promoting mindfulness seems to be desirable for weight and weight-related behaviors in college students, as there were positive associations between mindfulness and healthy weight-related behaviors and inverse relationships with maladaptive weight-related behaviors. However, the results should be interpreted in light of the fact that there is a need for more quality longitudinal observational studies and more randomized controlled trials