Ladenburg Roundtable

How do emotions influence our eating behavior? For example, do we eat more unhealthy food when we are sad? Many people deal with nutritional issues on a daily basis. Some of these are relevant to our health, since the excessive consumption of high-calorie foods, for instance, can eventually lead to obesity and secondary disorders. A better understanding of how emotions, in particular, influence our eating behavior and whether they lead to increased consumption of unhealthy food can therefore greatly contribute to promoting and maintaining health.

18 internationally recognized experts discussed the topic of “Emotional eating – universality and limits of the concept” at the Ladenburg Roundtable on 23 and 24 May 2025. The scientists came together at the invitation of the Daimler and Benz Foundation to investigate the concept of emotional eating and to structure future research in this field.

The concept of emotional eating is yet to be uniformly defined; the term is used in various different ways in research. Since this makes it difficult to pool scientific findings in order to derive well-founded recommendations, a key objective of this gathering was to arrive at a clear definition that takes account of various research approaches – from laboratory studies with physiological measurements, and surveys on how we conduct our everyday lives, to intervention studies based on eating therapy. This standardized definition should in future enable better integration of the different areas of research.

The scientists also developed a theory that can explain the occurrence of emotional eating and can serve as a basis for formulating new hypotheses. This comprehensive theoretical description should help to identify and eliminate existing ambiguities in the concept. The experts also discussed practical research into emotional eating behavior: Current standards in data collection and interventions were analyzed and recommendations formulated for future research projects.

The findings from this gathering were set out in a position paper that should serve as a guideline for research and scientific activity. Initiatives for international cooperation were also launched to intensify research into emotional eating. And since this topic is of both scientific and social interest, the insights gained at this Ladenburg Roundtable will be made publicly available in a video and a blog article.