Influence of emotions evoked by life events on food choice.

PURPOSE: Considering the importance of replicating real-life experiences in studying emotional eating, this study investigated the influence of emotions evoked by life events on food choice in normal-weight and overweight women. METHODS: Normal-weight (n = 21) and overweight women (n = 23) aged 25-42 years were assigned to one of two different conditions: in one, they were shown a video with scenes of daily activities to elicit neutral responses; in the other, they were shown a video with scenes of common problems to evoke negative emotions. The participants were then offered a brunch containing sweet, salty, and healthy food items to evaluate their consumption and food choice. RESULTS: Exposure to negative emotions evoked by life problems increased energy intake in both groups, but they differed in terms of food choice. The normal-weight women increased only the consumption of sweet food (p = 0.044), whereas the overweight women significantly increased ingestion of sweet and salty foods (sweet food p = 0.031; salty food p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The results show that common problems of life might trigger food consumption in the presence of high availability. Both groups increased food consumption after negative emotions and the normal-weight group had a higher increase than the overweight group. However, normal-weight women increased consumption of sweet foods, whereas overweight women consumed more salty, fried, and sweet foods. Healthy food was not chosen under these conditions. This should serve as a warning for the risks of excess exposure to high-sugar or high-fat food as everyday problems will not cease to exist. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II: evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization.

Relationship of negative emotion with leptin and food intake amongoverweight women.

Negative emotions can influence food intake. Leptin (an anorectic hormone) levels may change in response to psychological stressors. This study aimed to explore the relationship between leptin and food intake triggered by negative emotions in overweight women. Two groupswere studied: normal weight women (n = 21) and overweight women (n = 23). Both groups were exposed to videos to stimulate negative and neutral emotions followed by application ofthe Subjetive Analog Scale. Plasma leptin levels were evaluated before and after exposure to the videos. Subsequently, a brunch containing sweet and salty foods was offered to simulatea high food availability environment. Results show that when exposed to negative emotions there was an increase in food intake (normal weight: p=.010 / overweight: p=.005). There was no change in plasma leptin levels in normal weightand overweight women. Negative emotions promotedan increase in energy intake in both groups. The results reinforce the integration of biopsychosocial aspects involving emotions and food intake.

Dietary quality differences between women with and without weight loss in nutritional treatment.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The obesity nutritional treatment is structured to weight loss and diet is considered an important indicator of treatment effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to compare the diet quality among women who lost weight to women who maintained or gained weight during the nutritional treatment. METHODS: This is a retrospective study that included 66 obese women in nutritional treatment for weight loss, over six months, divided in tercile according to their weight loss. The diet quality was evaluated by score, which was obtained with a food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: The diet quality comparison was made among the group with weight loss (GL; n = 22) and the group that maintained or gained weight during the nutritional treatment (GG; n = 22) showed that both groups had improvement in their diet quality scores from pre-treatment to post-treatment. Nevertheless, the GG had higher sugar consumption than the GL in the pre-treatment (p = 0.02) and in the post-treatment (p 0.01) periods. In the post-treatment, GL increased their scores for leafy vegetables (0.013), fruit (0.004), sweets (p 0.03), and soft drinks (p 0.02). GL improved their scores for fried food (p 0.01) and sweets (p 0.008). CONCLUSION: This indicates that in the weight loss treatment special attention should be given to the incentive to the fruit and leafy vegetables consumption and, to reduce the consumption of sweets.

Eating behavior of schizophrenic patients / Comportamento alimentar de pacientes com esquizofrenia

ABSTRACT Objective To assess the eating behavior, food practices, nutritional and metabolic profiles of patients with schizophrenia undergoing treatment. Methods Cross-sectional exploratory descriptive qualitative study used a semi-structured questionnaire on the eating behavior, food practices, and perception of changes after the initiation of drug therapy and a quantitative method using anthropometric and body composition measurements, metabolic parameters, and 5-day dietary records to analyze nutrient ingestion of patients with schizophrenia in an outpatient clinic at a tertiary hospital (n=33). The qualitative data were analyzed and coded by three researchers and quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive exploratory statistics. Results The results of this study showed that schizophrenic patients presented high prevalence of excess weight (71.0%), metabolic syndrome (42.0%), dyslipidemia (62.0%), changes in appetite (76.0%), and increase in energy intake (74.2%), associated with important irregularities in eating behavior and food practices (such as irregularity of meals, emotional intake, high carbohydrate and fat intake, and low energy expenditure) and lifestyle (changes in social and work routines). Conclusion This eating profile may interact synergistically with psychotropic drugs to contribute to weight gain and metabolic changes in schizophrenia. Nutrition education may prevent and monitor the risk of metabolic and nutrition problems, irrespective of the medications used.

RESUMO Objetivo Avaliar o comportamento e as práticas alimentares, o perfil nutricional e metabólico de pacientes com esquizofrenia em tratamento ambulatorial de um hospital terciário. Métodos Trata-se de estudo descritivo exploratório transversal com abordagem qualitativa utilizando questionário semi-estruturado sobre comportamentos alimentares, práticas alimentares e percepção de mudanças após o início da terapia medicamentosa e abordagem quantitativa usando medidas antropométricas e de composição corporal, parâmetros metabólicos e registros alimentares por cinco dias para analisar a ingestão de nutrientes em pacientes com esquizofrenia (n=33). Os dados qualitativos foram analisados e codificados por três pesquisadores e os dados quantitativos foram analisados utilizando estatísticas exploratórias descritivas. Resultados Os resultados deste estudo mostraram que os pacientes com esquizofrenia apresentaram uma alta prevalência de excesso de peso (71,0%), síndrome metabólica (42,0%) e dislipidemia (62,0%), com alterações no apetite (76,0%), consumo excessivo de energia (74,2%), associado à irregularidades no comportamento alimentar e nas práticas alimentares (como a irregularidade das refeições, o consumo emocional, a ingestão elevada de carboidratos e gorduras e o baixo gasto de energia) e o estilo de vida (mudanças nas rotinas sociais e de trabalho). Conclusão Esse perfil alimentar pode interagir sinergicamente com às drogas psicotrópicas utilizadas o tratamento de esquizofrenia contribuindo com o ganho de peso e alterações metabólicas após o diagnóstico da doença. Nesse sentido, acredita-se que a educação nutricional pode prevenir e monitorar o risco de problema metabólico e nutricional, independentemente dos medicamentos utilizados.