Associations between mind-body practice engagement and diet quality: Exploring the mediating roles of eating behaviour traits and regulation styles for eating behaviours in the PREDISE study.

While engaging in Mind-Body Practices (MBPs) may be related to better diet quality, its association with eating behaviours is unclear. This cross-sectional study explores whether eating behaviour traits and regulation style of eating behaviours mediate the association between MBP engagement and diet quality. A total of 418 women and 482 men, aged between 18 and 65 years and recruited as part of the PREDISE study cohort, reported whether they currently practice one or more MBP (e.g., yoga or meditation). Canadian Healthy Eating Index (C-HEI) was calculated from three 24h dietary recalls. Intuitive Eating Scale (IES-2), and Regulation of Eating Behaviour Scale were completed online. Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to compare C-HEI scores of individuals who currently engage in MBPs (practitioners) to those who do not (non-practitioners). Multiple regression analyses and bootstrapping were performed to test whether eating behaviours and regulation style of eating behaviours mediate the association between MBPs and diet quality. Overall, 88 women and 43 men were practitioners. They had higher C-HEI scores than non-practitioners (62.9 ± 13.0 vs. 55.6 ± 14.3; p = 0.001). Parallel mediation model showed significant indirect effects of the IES-2 subscale relating to Body-Food Choice Congruence (β = 1.57, SE = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.86, 2.43), self-determined motivation (β = 1.51, SE = 0.39, 95% CI:0.81, 2.32) and non-self-determined motivation (β = 0.39, SE = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.85) on the association between practitioner status and C-HEI. These findings suggest that the current practice of MBPs is associated with better diet quality, mainly through practitioners' higher intuitive eating skills and more self-determined regulation of eating behaviours. Further studies should investigate the potential impacts of MBPs on the development and maintenance of positive eating habits.