Aim: This study aims to compare the hedonic hunger, attitudes towards healthy eating, and nutritional knowledge levels of adult obese individuals with those of healthy individuals.Method: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted between November 2024 and December 2024 with 198 obese participants and 198 healthy participants with a normal body mass index residing in the Kağıthane district. The participants were administered the General Information Form, the Attitude Scale for Healthy Nutrition (ASHN), the Nutrition Knowledge Scale (NKS), and the Power of Food Scale (PFS). Data were collected through an online survey method using Google Forms and analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 software.Results: A significant relationship was found between the total score average of the Attitudes Towards Healthy Eating Scale (ASHN) and its subdimensions—poor eating, positive eating, and emotional attitudes towards eating—in obese individuals based on hedonic hunger (p0.05). A significant relationship was also observed between hedonic hunger and the total score of the Nutrition Knowledge Scale (NKS) in obese individuals (p0.05). Among healthy individuals, significant differences were detected in the subdimensions of poor eating and emotional attitudes towards eating related to hedonic hunger (p0.05), while no significant difference was found in the total NKS scores (p0.05). In healthy individuals, participants with hedonic hunger had lower total ASHN scores and lower subdimension scores for poor eating and emotional attitudes towards eating compared to those without hedonic hunger (p0.05).Conclusion: It was observed that the healthy eating attitudes and nutritional knowledge levels of obese individuals differed significantly from those of healthy individuals. Additionally, obese individuals were found to have higher levels of hedonic hunger, which was negatively associated with attitudes and behaviors supporting healthy eating and appeared to undermine healthy eating behaviors. These findings highlight that hedonic hunger is a critical factor that should not be overlooked in combating obesity and suggest that increasing knowledge alone may not be sufficient. Accordingly, interventions aimed at managing hedonic hunger levels are important for obesity prevention and management. Within the scope of obesity prevention and management strategies, it is considered beneficial to develop nutrition education programs alongside interventions targeting hedonic hunger and to establish health policies that promote healthy eating attitudes. Further research on this subject would be valuable, particularly to clarify the direction of the relationship between hedonic hunger and healthy eating and to develop effective intervention methods.
Bilen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.