Body-awareness therapies for eating disorders show tentative benefits
A systematic review described improvements in some behaviors and emotional regulation, but high risk of bias makes treatment effects uncertain.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Interventions involving awareness of internal body signals were associated with improvements in some eating-disorder behaviors and emotional regulation. Mindfulness approaches were studied most often, while evidence for exposure-based methods and biofeedback was preliminary. High risk of bias across much of the evidence means these findings cannot establish how reliably the approaches improve eating-disorder symptoms.
Most studies had a high risk of bias, and measures of internal body awareness were not standardized. This abstract-based account also lacks comparator details, follow-up lengths and numerical estimates of symptom change.
What body awareness means
Interoception means noticing signals from inside the body. The review examined interventions incorporating mindfulness, biofeedback or exposure to bodily sensations in people with eating disorders, with symptom severity as the main outcome.
Where improvements were reported
Mindfulness studies reported better emotional regulation, greater body awareness, and fewer binge or compensatory behaviors. Early work on exposure and biofeedback suggested less avoidance and anxiety, particularly in anorexia nervosa and binge-eating disorder; those results remain tentative.
The original publication
Interoceptive-based interventions for eating disorders: A systematic review.
Diana SM, Barca L
Appetite · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41962847
- Record checked
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