The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to compare eating behaviours (cognitive dietary restraint, disinhibition and susceptibility to hunger), dietary profile and physiological variables according to the practice of dieting: current dieting; history of dieting in the 10-year period that preceded the study; no dieting during the same period. Dieting history, anthropometric markers of adiposity, RMR, dietary profile (3 d food record) and eating behaviours (three-factor eating questionnaire) were determined in a sample of 244 men and 352 women. A greater proportion of women (31.8 %) than men (16.8 %) reported that they had been on a diet over the past 10 years (P=0.0001). In both genders, current and past dieters had a higher BMI (P<0.05) than non-dieters and current dieters had lower reported energy intakes than past dieters and non-dieters (only in women) (P<0.05). Current and past dieters also had higher scores for all eating behaviours and their subscales (P<0.05; except for susceptibility to hunger in men) compared with non-dieters (adjusted for age, reported energy intake, percentage of dietary fat, BMI and RMR). Moreover, for each dieting-history category, women had significantly higher scores for cognitive dietary restraint than men (P<0.05). In conclusion, the present study showed that current and past dieters had higher scores for cognitive dietary restraint and disinhibition compared with non-dieters. As disinhibition has previously been associated with a greater risk of subsequent weight gain, interventions aimed at preventing an increase in disinhibition may be promising for long-term weight maintenance.