Journal of Educational, Health and Community Psychology
VOL 15 NO 2 JUNE 2026

Snacking Is Not Just Hunger: Do Emotional Eating and Gender Associated with Snacking Habits?

Syifa Raihani Lubis (Psychology Department, Universitas Negeri Semarang)
Anna Undarwati (Psychology Department, Universitas Negeri Semarang)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 May 2026

Abstract

The prevalence of unhealthy snacking behavior in Indonesia remains high and has the potential to increase the risk of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is important to identify the factors associated with  snacking habits. This study aims to determine whether emotional eating and gender are associated with snacking habits. The method used was a cross-sectional design with purposive sampling. A 280 participants aged 20-55 years were involved. The research instruments consisted of a demographic questionnaire, the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), and the Self Report Habit Index (SRHI), and data analysis was performed using the Univariat GLM test. The results showed that there was a significant interaction effect of emotional eating and gender on snacking habits (p<0.05). Women were found to have higher snacking habits than men. Thus, it is important to focus more on targeting women, especially those with emotional eating tendencies, in order to raise awareness of healthier diets.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

Psychology

Publisher

Subject

Education Public Health

Description

Journal of Educational, Health, and Community Psychology (JEHCP) published an article, and empirical study that have originality, novelty and fill the gap of knowledge, that focused on educational psychology, health psychology and community psychology. JEHCP is an open access peer reviewed, ...