Relationships Between Exercise and Appetite in Women With Loss of Control Eating

This pilot study is a first step in looking at the relationship between exercise and appetite in women with loss of control eating.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Binge-Eating Disorder; Bulimia Nervosa; Eating Disorders
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Rest; Behavioral: Fed Exercise; Behavioral: Fasted Exercise

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 28
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Athens, Ohio, United States, 45701
      • Ohio University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Engage in loss of control eating at least 12 times in the last three months
• Clinically significant eating disorder-related impairment (CIA > 15)
• Minimum VO2max of 50th percentile for age and sex assigned at birth
• Be willing to eat study-provided foods
• Likes chocolate (at least 6/10 on 10 point scale)

Exclusion Criteria:

• BMI < 18.5 kgm/2
• Medical conditions that affect appetite or weight (e.g., diabetes mellitus, thyroid disease)
• Recent pregnancy or breastfeeding (prior 6 months)
• Relevant food allergies (e.g., wheat, chocolate)
• Specific phobia, blood-injection-injury type
• Medical condition that precludes safe participation in exercise (e.g., stress fracture)
• Medications that acutely affect appetite (e.g., GLP-1 agonists; psychiatric medications allowed)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

6

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Rest, Fed Exercise, Fasted Exercise; At Study Visit 2, participants will eat breakfast and rest (abstain from exercise). At Study Visit 3, participants will eat breakfast and exercise. At Study Visit 4, participants will abstain from breakfast and will engage in exercise.	Behavioral: Rest; Participants will eat breakfast but abstain from exercise; Behavioral: Fed Exercise; Participants will eat breakfast and engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at 75% of their personal V02max.; Behavioral: Fasted Exercise; Participants will engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at their personal 75% V02max after abstaining from breakfast.
Experimental: Rest, Fasted Exercise, Fed Exercise; At Study Visit 2, participants will eat breakfast and rest (abstain from exercise). At Study Visit 3, participants will abstain from breakfast and will engage in exercise. At Study Visit 4, participants will eat breakfast and exercise.	Behavioral: Rest; Participants will eat breakfast but abstain from exercise; Behavioral: Fed Exercise; Participants will eat breakfast and engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at 75% of their personal V02max.; Behavioral: Fasted Exercise; Participants will engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at their personal 75% V02max after abstaining from breakfast.
Experimental: Fed Exercise, Rest, Fasted Exercise; At Study Visit 2, participants will eat breakfast and exercise. At Study Visit 3, participants will eat breakfast and rest (abstain from exercise). At Study Visit 4, participants will abstain from breakfast and will engage in exercise.	Behavioral: Rest; Participants will eat breakfast but abstain from exercise; Behavioral: Fed Exercise; Participants will eat breakfast and engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at 75% of their personal V02max.; Behavioral: Fasted Exercise; Participants will engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at their personal 75% V02max after abstaining from breakfast.
Experimental: Fed Exercise, Fasted Exercise, Rest; At Study Visit 2, participants will eat breakfast and exercise. At Study Visit 3, participants will abstain from breakfast and will engage in exercise. At Study Visit 4, participants will eat breakfast and rest (abstain from exercise).	Behavioral: Rest; Participants will eat breakfast but abstain from exercise; Behavioral: Fed Exercise; Participants will eat breakfast and engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at 75% of their personal V02max.; Behavioral: Fasted Exercise; Participants will engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at their personal 75% V02max after abstaining from breakfast.
Experimental: Fasted Exercise, Fed Exercise, Rest; At Study Visit 2, participants will abstain from breakfast and will engage in exercise. At Study Visit 3, participants will eat breakfast and exercise. At Study Visit 4, participants will eat breakfast and rest (abstain from exercise)	Behavioral: Rest; Participants will eat breakfast but abstain from exercise; Behavioral: Fed Exercise; Participants will eat breakfast and engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at 75% of their personal V02max.; Behavioral: Fasted Exercise; Participants will engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at their personal 75% V02max after abstaining from breakfast.
Experimental: Fasted Exercise, Rest, Fed Exercise; At Study Visit 2, participants will abstain from breakfast and will engage in exercise. At Study Visit 3, participants will eat breakfast and rest (abstain from exercise). At Study Visit 4, participants will eat breakfast and exercise.	Behavioral: Rest; Participants will eat breakfast but abstain from exercise; Behavioral: Fed Exercise; Participants will eat breakfast and engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at 75% of their personal V02max.; Behavioral: Fasted Exercise; Participants will engage in 30 minutes of physical activity at their personal 75% V02max after abstaining from breakfast.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Relative Energy Intake	Relative energy intake for 24 hours will be calculated as absolute energy intake from the breakfast (if consumed), lunch, food reward value task, and take home cooler minus energy expenditure during exercise (or comparable time period during rest).	Food intake from 8 am to 8 am; Energy expenditure from approximately 9 am to 9:05 am and 9:25 to 9:30 am, coinciding with study condition (rest or exercise)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Lactate	Lactate values	30 minutes, pre-post exercise (or rest)
Acylated ghrelin	Acylated ghrelin	Immediately prior to lunch
Self-reported binge eating	Participants will rate the extent the following questions, considering the time frame "since yesterday morning at 8 am" on a 1 to 5 scale from "not at all" to "extremely": "While you were eating, to what extent did you feel a sense of loss of control?," "While you were eating, to what extent did you feel that you could not resist eating," "While you were eating, to what extent did you feel that you could not stop eating once you had started," and "While you were eating, to what extent did you feel driven or compelled to eat?" An answer of 4 or higher on any item will be categorized as binge eating present. Any reported binge eating on either day will be coded as binge eating being present	24 and 48 hours after exercise/rest study visit
Food reward value	Number of trials according to task developed by Bodell and Keel 2015	Approximately 3:30 pm day of study visit

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ohio University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 30, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 21, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): April 21, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 12, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 17, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): September 19, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 30, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 24, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: exercise; eating disorders
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Signs and Symptoms; Binge-Eating Disorder; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Bulimia Nervosa; Motor Activity; RE1-silencing transcription factor
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB_FY24-403

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: Data may be shared on a public repository, such as the Open Science Framework

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No