The Acceptance Model of Intuitive Eating: A Comparison of Women in Emerging Adulthood, Early Adulthood, and Middle Adulthood

The acceptance model of intuitive eating (Avalos & Tylka, 2006) posits that body acceptance by others helps women appreciate their body and resist adopting an observer's perspective of their body, which contribute to their eating intuitively/adaptively. We extended this model by integrating body mass index (BMI) into its structure and investigating it with emerging (ages 18-25 years old, n = 318), early (ages 26-39 years old, n = 238), and middle (ages 40-65 years old, n = 245) adult women. Multiple-group analysis revealed that this model fit the data for all age groups. Body appreciation and resistance to adopt an observer's perspective mediated the body acceptance by others intuitive eating link. Body acceptance by others mediated the social support body appreciation and BMI body appreciation links. Early and middle adult women had stronger negative BMI body acceptance by others and BMI intuitive eating relationships and a stronger positive body acceptance by others body appreciation relationship than emerging adult women. Early adult women had a stronger positive resistance to adopt observer's perspective body appreciation relationship than emerging and middle adult women.