The Intuitive Eating Scale: Development and Preliminary Validation

In the 1980s an antidieting movement began to take shape based on the assertion that restrained dieting (i.e., controlled meal plans, avoidance of taboo foods, and/or restricted intake of fat grams or calories) is not sustainable and may contribute to such negative outcomes as weight recycling, altered body composition, heightened fat storage potential, decreased resting metabolism, dysfunctional relationships with food, increased risk of eating disorders, low selfesteem, and an overall sense of failure among dieters (Gast & Hawks, 1998; Hawks & Gast, 1998, 2000). Proponents of the antidieting movement further argued that many individuals seemed to be capable of achieving a healthy body weight while maintaining an unrestrained relationship with food that did not include restrictive dieting (Schwartz, 1996). Informal assessments revealed that for these individuals food intake was based primarily on physical hunger cues, rather than on diet plans, environmental cues, emotional states, or other external factors (Hansen & Goodman, 1999; Podjasek & Carney, 1998). Such individuals came to be referred to as intuitive eaters, and intuitive eating has continued to grow in popularity as an alternative to dieting (Gast & Hawks, 2000; Tribole & Resch, 1996). In short, the concept of intuitive eating suggests that all individuals have within themselves a natural mechanism that if allowed to function will ensure good nutrition at a healthy weight (Schwartz, 1996). As individuals get in touch with this “inner guide” or access their “inner wisdom” they are more in tune with their body’s physical needs and eat in a way that supports health, thinness, and nutrition, while at the same time avoiding overeating, obsessive food consumption, harmful dieting, or mindless ABSTRACT