Mindful eating and diet quality among U.S. adults with lower incomes.

Background: Mindful eating, a practice that encourages attention to sensations and awareness during the eating experience, has shown effectiveness in inducing positive behavioral changes. Mindful eating practices have been examined in relation to energy intake (i.e., quantity of food) but to a lesser extent to the quality of that food, hence, it is crucial to comprehensively understand the association between mindful eating and diet quality.

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the association between mindful eating and diet quality among United States (U.S.) adults with lower incomes and to examine heterogeneity in the associations by gender identity.

Design: This study employs a cross-sectional study design.

Participants/setting: In December 2022, a national convenience sample of 1,798 U.S. adults with lower incomes, recruited through Prime Panels, completed a web-based survey.

Main outcome measures: Diet quality was measured using the 30-day Prime Diet Quality Score screener (ranges from 0-126). A higher score reflects higher diet quality.

Statistical analyses performed: Associations between the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ) (ranges from 1-4) and its four factors (Awareness, External Cues, Emotional Response, and Distraction) in relation to diet quality were examined using multivariable regression models, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates.

Results: The mean MEQ score was 2.30; the mean PDQS-30D score was 50.2. The associations between MEQ scores and PDQS-30D scores were significantly modified by gender identity. Among men, a higher MEQ score reflecting more mindful eating (β=3.81, 95% CI: 2.19, 5.43) was associated with higher PDQS-30D scores. In addition, a higher Awareness factor score (β=3.21, 95% CI: 2.48, 3.93), a higher External Cues factor score indicating less response to external cues (β=0.76, 95% CI: 0.01, 1.52), and a higher Distraction factor score indicating less distraction (β=1.09, 95% CI: 0.28, 1.90) were all associated with higher PDQS-30D scores. Among women, a higher Awareness factor score was associated with higher PDQS-30D scores (β=2.50, 95% CI: 1.78, 3.22); and a higher Emotional response factor score (i.e., eating less in response to emotional eating) was associated with lower PDQS-30D scores (β=-0.85, 95% CI: -1.58, -0.12).

Conclusions: Mindful eating and its factors are associated with a higher diet quality among U.S. adults with lower incomes, particularly among men. Future longitudinal and intervention studies are warranted to better understand these associations among adults with lower incomes, as an understudied population in the mindful eating literature.