Are You A Comfort Eater? NUI Galway Wants YOU!

Are you a comfort eater? As in you open up the third bag of crisps because "you deserve it"?

Yup, we've all been there.

But we can guarantee you won't feel the guilt after this comfort noshing session.

Researchers in Galway's NUIG are looking for volunteers to take part in a study investigating why people comfort eat...

And they want YOU, Irish Health reports.

The researchers are trying to find out the potential influence of emotional factors in childhood on comfort eating. They will be carrying out interviews and have developed a questionnaire, which can be carried out online.

"We're hoping to explore the relationship between a range of factors, such as how people learned to cope with their emotions in childhood, or how people relate to others, and how this influences eating patterns and BMI in adulthood," explained Roisín Finnegan, a trainee clinical psychologist at NUI Galway.

Go on, one more then... 

The researchers admit comfort eating could be a result of the convenience food culture, but want to dig a little deeper and see if psychosocial factors, such as a lack of parental support or depression, could play a role too.

"We believe that children growing up in an environment where they feel unable to express their emotions may turn to food as a source of comfort. This pattern of coping with emotion through food continues into adulthood and may well contribute to weight problems," commented study supervisor, Dr Jonathan Egan, a lecturer in psychology.

If you want to get involved and speak your mind, you can take this questionnaire. It should take about 15 minutes.

You can also get involved in an interview session. You can contact r.finnegan8@nuigalway.ie for more information.