Chronic Pain Patients Use Comfort Eating To Cope, Study Finds

Key Takeaways

About 2 out of 3 people with chronic pain regularly turn to comfort eating to help them copeHalf said food provides them a pleasant experience or a distractionHowever, weight gain can make chronic pain worse, creating a vicious cycle

TUESDAY, Oct. 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) — About 2 out of 3 people in chronic pain regularly turn to chocolate, ice cream, salty snacks or other comfort foods to cope, a new study says.

This raises their odds of gaining weight, which in turn can worsen pain and increase risk of future health problems, researchers said.

“People who live with pain every day need to find ways of coping,” said senior researcher Toby Newton-John , head of the Graduate School of Health at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia. “We think about medication