Mindful eating as a supportive intervention for breast cancer survivors: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) survivors often face weight management and disordered eating challenges that may impair quality of life. This pilot randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of a six-session mindful eating intervention on eating behaviors and body composition in BC survivors. METHODS: Breast cancer survivors were enrolled in a pilot randomized clinical trial and randomly assigned to mindful eating intervention plus treatment-as-usual (TAU + MEI, n = 13) or treatment-as-usual alone (TAU, n = 15). Intuitive and mindful eating were assessed using the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2) and the Mindful Eating Questionnaire-30 (MEQ-30). Anthropometric measures were assessed monthly over six months. Longitudinal changes were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA and generalized estimating equations (GEE). RESULTS: Reliance on hunger and satiety cues increased significantly over time in both groups (TAU: p = 0.004; TAU + MEI: p = 0.007). Significant improvements were observed in selected mindful eating dimensions, including disinhibition, emo-tional eating, eating control, and eating with attention and intention (all p < 0.05). MEQ-30 total scores increased significantly in both groups (TAU: p < 0.001; TAU + MEI: p = 0.010). Waist circum-ference decreased significantly in the TAU group (p = 0.002), while hip circumference decreased in the TAU + MEI group (p = 0.009). GEE analysis showed that participation in the TAU + MEI group was independently associated with lower BMI over time (p = 0.013), whereas HR(+)/HER2(-) sub-type and chronic disease were associated with higher BMI (all p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both TAU and TAU + MEI were associated with improvements in selected eating-behavior and anthropometric outcomes over time, including indicators of central adiposity, with no clear overall superiority of TAU + MEI across the outcomes assessed. These exploratory findings support further investigation of incorporating mindful eating into standard nutritional care for breast cancer survivors. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT07007104; registration date: 28 May 2025.