Childhood is of course not the only time that overeating happens. There are many reasons why adults eat too much even if they ate quite normally as children. Some people eat too much because they have a psychological or psychiatric disorder . Many people who are emotionally disturbed or depressed overeat, probably because they find food comforting. Some people increase their food consumption when they are under stress rather as other people tend to bite their nails.
Some people eat food all day long out of sheer boredom.
Eating food can become a habit or even an addiction. The outstanding example of this today is that when many people give up smoking they often feel a definite need to replace the habit or addiction of smoking by another - and this is usually eating. A large number of people blame their weight gain on giving up smoking. In fact, of course, their weight gain has been due to eating more and not to the lack of tobacco, but the reason for overeating is the transference of their emotional dependence from nicotine to food. Although there is probably no physical link between tobacco and weight, some authorities have claimed that after stopping smoking the bowel tends to absorb food more efficiently and therefore weight is gained.