Mindful and intuitive eating: A bibliometric analysis of research trends from 2004 to 2024

IntroductionExcessive body weight and problematic eating behaviours, such as emotional and binge eating, have become major public health concerns. Mindful eating and intuitive eating offer alternative approaches to traditional dieting by encouraging individuals to focus on internal hunger and satiety cues. This study aims to analyse research trends and metrics related to mindful eating and intuitive eating publications over the past twenty years. MethodsWe used Scopus to identify mindful and intuitive eating related studies from 2004 to 2024. VOSviewer and Bibliometrix were used to extract relevant data and run the bibliometric analysis. ResultsA total of 1922 articles and reviews published in English were identified. After screening titles and abstract for relevance, 1064 documents were left for analysis. The number of studies on mindful and intuitive eating increased most years, with 2023 (n=143, 13.44%) and 2024 (n=146, 13.72%) producing the most articles, and a total citation count of 32,245 over the twenty-year period. High-income countries such as the United States (n=497), United Kingdom (n=131), and Canada (n=88) produced the most scientific articles. Leading researchers were Mantzios, M. (n=26) and Tylka, T. L. (n=25). The most cited articles focused on mindfulness or meditation-based therapies in managing psychological stress and the influence of taste on food choices. Keyword and trend analyses highlight emerging research areas such as mindfulness and intuitive eating. ConclusionThis bibliometric analysis provides valuable insights to the research trends in the mindful and intuitive eating fields. Strengthening interdisciplinary research and expanding collaborations between countries and authors could enhance the research impact in these fields as well as exploring emerging topics such as body perceptions (e.g., body image, body positivity, body dissatisfaction).