The mind-eat program leads to greater improvements in mindful, emotional, and external eating compared to intuitive eating-oriented education in adults with overweight or obesity: a randomized controlled trial
Marion van Beekum, Angélique Rodhain, Rebecca Shankland, Soumeya Chetouane, Dominique Jullien-Durmont, Camille Le Rouzic, Justine Myzia, M. Guiraudou, Youadigue Kemba, Catherine Boegner, Jean‐Baptiste Bonnet, V. Attalin, Abdulkader Jalek, Ariane Sultan, Christophe Leys, Sandrine Péneau, Antoine Avignon
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity May 20, 2026 DOI: 10.1186/s12966-026-01931-y (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 66 |
| Population | Adults with overweight or obesity |
| Interventions | Mind-Eat program Therapeutic patient education (TPE) program |
| Duration | 8-week intervention, follow-up at week 12 |
| Measures | Mind-Eat Scale, emotional eating, external eating, intuitive eating, trait mindfulness, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, physical activity, weight |
| Registration | NCT06157411 |
| Key findings | Mind-Eat produced significantly greater improvements in mindful eating at week 8 (β = -0.40, d = -1.32) and week 12 (β = -0.31, d = -1.02), and greater reductions in emotional and external eating, plus greater improvements in intuitive eating and trait mindfulness, compared with treatment as usual. No between-group differences were found for restrained eating, stress, anxiety, depression, physical activity, or weight. |
Abstract
Background: Mindful eating interventions target behavioral and emotional processes involved in eating, but most structured programs have been evaluated in English-speaking settings and often compared with passive controls. This randomized controlled trial assessed the effectiveness of the Mind-Eat program, a structured mindfulness-based intervention, versus treatment as usual consisting of a therapeutic patient education (TPE) program grounded in intuitive eating principles, in adults with overweight or obesity.
Methods: In this single-center trial, 66 adults with overweight or obesity were randomized (1:1) after oral agreement. Of these, 56 completed baseline assessment, and 46 with baseline and at least one post-baseline assessment were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis. The Mind-Eat group completed eight weekly experiential sessions plus one follow-up session, while the comparator group followed the department's usual TPE pathway. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post-intervention (week 8), and follow-up (week 12). The primary outcome was change in mindful eating, measured with the validated Mind-Eat Scale. Secondary outcomes included disordered and intuitive eating behaviors, psychological well-being, trait mindfulness, physical activity, and weight. Analyses used linear mixed-effects models.
Results: Significant Group × Time interactions favored the Mind-Eat group for mindful eating at week 8 (β = - 0.40, p = .002, d = - 1.32) and week 12 (β = - 0.31, p = .02, d = - 1.02). Compared with treatment as usual, Mind-Eat was also associated with greater reductions in emotional eating (and greater improvements in intuitive eating and trait mindfulness. Improvements were observed in both groups across several outcomes. No between-group differences were found for restrained eating, perceived stress, anxiety, depression, physical activity, or weight.
Conclusions: The Mind-Eat program was associated with greater improvements in mindful eating and key eating-related behaviors, particularly emotional and external eating, than an intuitive eating-oriented TPE program delivered as treatment as usual. These findings support the added value of structured mindfulness-based experiential training in obesity care. However, they should be interpreted in light of attrition and the absence of short-term weight effects.
Trial Registration: The study protocol is recorded at Clinicaltrials.gov under the number: NCT06157411.