Mindful Bites: Eating in the Present Moment

Mindful Bites: Eating in the Present Moment. A Study Within the PNRR 10 ON FOODS PARTNERSHIP

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a mindful eating intervention focused on listening to podcast. The intervention is delivered via mobile application in a sample drawn from the healthy adult population.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Listening to a Podcast on Food Education; Listening to a Theoretical Mindful Eating Podcast; Listening to a Mindful Eating Podcast With Theory and Practice
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mindful Eating Practice; Behavioral: Mindful Eating Theory; Behavioral: Mindful Eating Education

Detailed Description

This study investigates the short-term effects of a two-week app-based mindful eating intervention delivered through MyPocketHealth. The intervention is designed to promote greater awareness of eating experiences, including sensory perception, emotional states, and behavioral patterns related to food consumption. Participants receive daily training exercises and short audio modules tailored to the principles of mindfulness applied to eating.

Throughout the 14-day program, participants complete daily momentary assessments assessing mood, attention, and eating-related awareness. Additional pre- and post-intervention questionnaires evaluate psychological well-being (WHO-5), cognitive failures (CFQ), eating behavior styles (DEBQ), and mindful eating skills (MEQ). Dietary habits, intake of specific food groups and dispositional mindfulness are also assessed to explore possible changes associated with the intervention.

The primary aim of the study is to evaluate changes in psychological well-being and mindful eating from baseline to the end of the intervention. Secondary aims include assessing changes in cognitive functioning, eating behavior patterns, and day-to-day fluctuations in mood and attentional engagement with the training materials. Group differences are explored across three experimental conditions, which vary in the level of content emphasis. Group 1 listens to general food-related podcast (MEE), group 2 listens to a podcast discussing theoretical information about mindful eating (MET), while group 3 listens to a podcast that, besides theoretical information, also offers daily practices (MEP).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 666
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Italy
  • Milan, Italy, 20126
    • Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• owning a smartphone

Exclusion Criteria:

• presence of diagnosed eating disorders

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mindful Eating Practice; Participants receive notifications focused on experiential mindful eating components, including awareness of the five senses and interoceptive skills. They also complete specific guided exercises designed to cultivate these abilities.	Behavioral: Mindful Eating Practice; Participants complete a 14-day app-based program delivered through daily notifications and short audio content focused on experiential mindful eating components, including awareness of the five senses and interoceptive skills. They also complete specific guided exercises designed to cultivate these abilities. Each day, participants receive two notifications and one short audio, accompanied by brief self-report assessments evaluating mood, attention, and engagement.
Experimental: Mindful Eating Theory; Participants receive notifications focused exclusively on the theoretical aspects of mindful eating, without the experiential exercises included in the practice condition.	Behavioral: Mindful Eating Theory; Participants complete a 14-day app-based program delivered through daily notifications and short audio content focused exclusively on the theoretical aspects of mindful eating, without the experiential exercises included in the practice condition. They also complete specific guided exercises designed to cultivate these abilities. Each day, participants receive two notifications and one short audio, accompanied by brief self-report assessments evaluating mood, attention, and engagement.
Experimental: Mindful Eating Education; Participants receive notifications promoting evidence-based healthy eating practices, such as adequate water intake and reduced consumption of refined foods, based on findings from authoritative scientific research.	Behavioral: Mindful Eating Education; Participants complete a 14-day app-based program delivered through daily notifications and short audio content promoting evidence-based healthy eating practices, such as adequate water intake and reduced consumption of refined foods, based on findings from authoritative scientific research. They also complete specific guided exercises designed to cultivate these abilities. Each day, participants receive two notifications and one short audio, accompanied by brief self-report assessments evaluating mood, attention, and engagement.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mood assessment	Mood was assessed daily throughout the 14-day intervention period using five single-item Likert scales (1-10). Participants rated their momentary levels of stress, mental clarity, calmness, happiness, and restlessness.	Immediately before and after each daily session over the 14-day period
Mindful Eating Awareness	To assess Mindful Eating Awareness, we used the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ), a tool developed to measure the degree of awareness during eating behavior. In the Italian abbreviated version (Clementi, Casu, & Gremigni, 2017), the instrument consists of 20 items rated on a 4-point Likert scale (from 1 = 'Never' to 4 = 'Always') and is divided into two subscales: awareness and recognition.	At baseline and at the end of the 14-day intervention period
Bodily Sensation	Bodily sensation was assessed daily throughout the 14-day intervention period using five single-item Likert scales (1-10).	Immediately after each daily session over the 14-day period

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
WHO-5 Well-Being Index score	Well-being was assessed using the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, a self-report questionnaire that measures subjective psychological well-being over the previous two weeks. The scale consists of five positively worded items rated on a 6-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating greater well-being.	At baseline and at the end of the 14-day intervention period
Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) score	Cognitive efficiency was evaluated using the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ), a self-report measure assessing the frequency of everyday cognitive lapses over the previous two weeks. The questionnaire consists of 25 items, each describing common cognitive slips involving attention, memory, or action execution (e.g., forgetting why one entered a room, losing focus during tasks, or misplacing objects). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("Never") to 4 ("Very often"), with higher scores indicating more frequent cognitive failures.	At baseline and at the end of the 14-day intervention period

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Marco D'Addario
• Investigators: Study Director: Patrizia Steca, University of Milan-Bicocca; Principal Investigator: Maria Elide Vanutelli, University of Milan-Bicocca

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Dalen J, Smith BW, Shelley BM, Sloan AL, Leahigh L, Begay D. Pilot study: Mindful Eating and Living (MEAL): weight, eating behavior, and psychological outcomes associated with a mindfulness-based intervention for people with obesity. Complement Ther Med. 2010 Dec;18(6):260-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2010.09.008. Epub 2010 Nov 11.
• Salvo V, Curado DF, Sanudo A, Kristeller J, Schveitzer MC, Favarato ML, Isidoro W, Demarzo M. Comparative effectiveness of mindfulness and mindful eating programmes among low-income overweight women in primary health care: A randomised controlled pragmatic study with psychological, biochemical, and anthropometric outcomes. Appetite. 2022 Oct 1;177:106131. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106131. Epub 2022 Jun 23.
• Lyzwinski LN, Edirippulige S, Caffery L, Bambling M. Mindful Eating Mobile Health Apps: Review and Appraisal. JMIR Ment Health. 2019 Aug 22;6(8):e12820. doi: 10.2196/12820.
• Janssen LK, Duif I, van Loon I, de Vries JHM, Speckens AEM, Cools R, Aarts E. Greater mindful eating practice is associated with better reversal learning. Sci Rep. 2018 Apr 9;8(1):5702. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-24001-1.
• Begin C, Berthod J, Martinez LZ, Truchon M. Use of Mobile Apps and Online Programs of Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Training in Workers: A Scoping Review. J Technol Behav Sci. 2022;7(4):477-515. doi: 10.1007/s41347-022-00267-1. Epub 2022 Sep 6.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 17, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 8, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): January 8, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 7, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 19, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): May 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 22, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 19, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Mindfulness; well-being; mHealth; Mindful Eating; food education; bodily awareness
• Other Study ID Numbers: RM-2025-974; PE00000003;CUP D93C22000890001 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Italian Ministry of University and Research funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No