The role of psychosocial well-being and emotion-driven impulsiveness in food choices of European adolescents.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether a hypothetical intervention targeting either psychosocial well-being or emotion-driven impulsiveness is more effective in reducing unhealthy food choices. Therefore, we aimed to compare the (separate) causal effects of psychosocial well-being and emotion-driven impulsiveness on European adolescents' sweet and fat propensity. METHODS: We included 2,065 participants of the IDEFICS/I.Family cohort (mean age: 13.4) providing self-reported data on sweet propensity (score range: 0 to 68.4), fat propensity (range: 0 to 72.6), emotion-driven impulsiveness using the UPPS-P negative urgency subscale, and psychosocial well-being using the KINDLR Questionnaire. We estimated, separately, the average causal effects of psychosocial well-being and emotion-driven impulsiveness on sweet and fat propensity applying a semi-parametric doubly robust method (targeted maximum likelihood estimation). Further, we investigated a potential indirect effect of psychosocial well-being on sweet and fat propensity mediated via emotion-driven impulsiveness using a causal mediation analysis. RESULTS: If all adolescents, hypothetically, had high levels of psychosocial well-being, compared to low levels, we estimated a decrease in average sweet propensity by 1.43 [95%-confidence interval: 0.25 to 2.61]. A smaller effect was estimated for fat propensity. Similarly, if all adolescents had high levels of emotion-driven impulsiveness, compared to low levels, average sweet propensity would be decreased by 2.07 [0.87 to 3.26] and average fat propensity by 1.85 [0.81 to 2.88]. The indirect effect of psychosocial well-being via emotion-driven impulsiveness was 0.61 [0.24 to 1.09] for average sweet propensity and 0.55 [0.13 to 0.86] for average fat propensity. CONCLUSIONS: An intervention targeting emotion-driven impulsiveness, compared to psychosocial well-being, would be marginally more effective in reducing sweet and fat propensity in adolescents.

[Consequences of digital media on the health of children and adolescents with a focus on the consumption of unhealthy foods]. / Wirkungen digitaler Medien auf die Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen mit Schwerpunkt auf dem Verzehr ungesunder Lebensmittel.

Children and adolescents' media time has increased since 2019. Prolonged time spent with media and media multitasking is increasingly being discussed as a health determinant. This narrative review highlights the importance of media time on the development of obesity and metabolic disorders in children and adolescents and discusses in more detail the associations with consumption of unhealthy foods and increased exposure to media food marketing.The prolonged durations that children and adolescents spend with social and digital media in their leisure time are positively related to sensory taste preferences for sweet, fatty, and salty foods as well as to higher snack food and energy intakes. Moreover, prolonged media time is also associated with a long-term increased risk of metabolic syndrome and its single components. The potential of social media for promoting physical activity and healthy eating lies especially in simplifying the inclusion of otherwise hard-to-reach groups. Further, social media may facilitate social support from peers and thus positively influence the well-being of young users.Particularly against the background of the not yet fully developed cognitive abilities of children and adolescents, the article refers to options for action to protect young media users. Exposure to certain social media content appears to negatively relate to children and adolescents' food choices and eating behaviors, supporting the call to regulate advertising directed at young consumers for foods and beverages that do not meet WHO criteria for child-friendly foods in these media.

Nutrition policies in Germany: a systematic assessment with the Food Environment Policy Index.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically assess Germany's nutrition policies, to benchmark them against international best practices and to identify priority policy actions to improve population-level nutrition in Germany. DESIGN: We applied the Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI), a methodological framework developed by the International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) network. Qualitative content analysis of laws, directives and other documents formed the basis of a multistaged, structured consultation process. SETTING: Germany. PARTICIPANTS: The expert consultation process included fifty-five experts from academia, public administration and civil society. RESULTS: Germany lags behind international best practices in several key policy areas. For eighteen policy indicators, the degree of implementation compared with international best practices was rated as very low, for twenty-one as low, for eight as intermediate and for none as high. In particular, indicators on food taxation, regulation of food marketing as well as retail and food service sector policies were rated as very low to low. Identified priority actions included the binding implementation of nutrition standards for schools and kindergartens, a reform of the value added tax on foods and beverages, a sugar-sweetened beverage tax and stricter regulation of food marketing directed at children. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that Germany makes insufficient use of the potential of evidence-informed health-promoting nutrition policies. Adopting international best practices in key policy areas could help to reduce the burden of nutrition-related chronic disease and related inequalities in nutrition and health in Germany. Implementation of relevant policies requires political leadership, a broad societal dialogue and evidence-informed advocacy by civil society, including the scientific community.

Health surveillance indicators for diet and physical activity: what is available in European data sets for policy evaluation?

BACKGROUND: Policies targeting diet and physical activity have the potential to improve health and well-being at a population level. However, the impact of these policies in Europe is currently unknown. Based on existing data, as well as on a needs assessment, we derived a catalogue of indicators that can be employed to evaluate such policies. These indicators may also inform the further development and harmonization of surveillance systems. METHODS: Forty EU experts agreed on a list of key indicators and ranked their priority for future surveillance. We mapped these indicators onto variables provided by ongoing European surveillance systems. Using a Likert scale (well matched, somewhat matched, poorly matched, unmatched), we assessed the suitability of these variables as measures for the indicators. RESULTS: Key indicators included behaviour outcome indicators relating to diet (n = 72) and physical activity and sedentary behaviour (n = 67) as well as upstream determinants of these behaviours. It was possible to map 72% of diet indicators and 86% of physical activity and sedentary behaviour indicators onto at least one variable in an ongoing surveillance system. CONCLUSIONS: Current monitoring and surveillance systems focus mainly on measuring 'downstream' indicators, while gaps exist in policy and environmental level data in dimensions such as inequality, funding and resources and governance.

Towards a harmonized European surveillance for dietary and physical activity indicators in young and adult populations.

BACKGROUND: The Policy Evaluation Network proposes a consolidated approach to measure comparable health indicators across European health surveillance systems to evaluate effectiveness of policy action. METHODS: In a stepwise approach, questionnaire items used by the systems for measuring diet and physical activity data to describe health indicators were identified based on their validity, reliability, and suitability to monitor achievement of health recommendations. They were collated to unified questionnaire modules and discussed bilaterally with representatives of these systems to explore barriers and facilitators for implementation. Also, establishment of a methodological competence platform was proposed, in which the surveillance and monitoring systems agree on the priorities and common quality standards for the harmonization process and to coordinate the integration of questionnaire modules into existing systems. RESULTS: In total, seven questionnaire modules were developed, of which two diet and two physical activity modules were proposed for implementation. Each module allows measurement of data reflecting only partial aspects of national and WHO recommendations related to diet and physical activity. Main barriers were the requirements of systems to monitor temporal trends and to minimize costs. Main facilitator for implementation was the systems' use of questionnaire items that were comparable to the unified modules. Representatives agreed to participate in a methodological competence platform. CONCLUSION: We successfully took first steps in the realization of the roadmap towards a harmonization of European surveillance by introducing unified questionnaire modules allowing the collection of comparable health indicators and by initiating the establishment of a competence platform to guide this process.

Reaching consensus on definitions for food and physical activity policies: experience from the Policy Evaluation Network.

BACKGROUND: An upsurge in policy evaluation research within public health sciences has led to multi-disciplinary research networks like the 'Policy Evaluation Network' (PEN). This multi-disciplinary collaboration highlighted the need for consensus on clear, common terminology and definitions to facilitate the multi-disciplinary research. This article outlines the development process of the PEN definitions glossary tool, with a focus on the key domains of policy design, implementation and outcomes as they apply to physical activity, sedentary behaviour and dietary behaviours. METHODS: A project specific participatory process was undertaken, involving PEN researchers (n = 48) from seven European countries across various disciplinary backgrounds. All involved researchers were invited to identify and collate definitions that were commonly used in their research field. Terms and definitions were discussed and debated during three online workshops. Subsequently, the definitions were discussed and refined until consensus was reached. RESULTS: Consensus definitions for 93 terms related to the evaluation of policy design, implementation and outcomes are provided. Consensus was reached on a range of terms where the terms were understood and used differently across represented disciplines (e.g. 'Outcome' and 'Impact'). A conceptual 'Inter-relations in policy-related concepts' diagram was developed to enable navigation through an online database with key terms. CONCLUSIONS: The definitions resulting from this participatory process has supported PEN researchers and practitioners across disciplines to reach a shared understanding of different terms related to policy evaluation. Thus, providing a platform for avoiding conflicting use of the same terms in differing contexts over the course of the PEN work programme, facilitating clear and consistent communication, and allowing for clarity within collaborative multi-disciplinary projects and in public-facing messages.

Dietary behaviour and physical activity policies in Europe: learnings from the Policy Evaluation Network (PEN).

The European Policy Evaluation Network (PEN), initiated in autumn 2018, aimed at advancing the evidence base for public policies impacting dietary behaviour, physical activity and sedentary behaviours in Europe. This is needed because non-communicable diseases-the leading cause of global mortality-are substantially caused by physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary behaviours, which in turn are driven by upstream factors that have not yet been addressed effectively by prevention approaches. Thus, successful policy interventions are required that target entire populations and tackle the 'causes of the causes'. To advance our knowledge on the effective implementation of policies and their impact in terms of improving health behaviours, PEN focused on five research tasks: (i) Adaptation and implementation of a Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) and development of a Physical Activity Environment Policy Index (PA-EPI); (ii) Mapping of health-related indicators needed for policy evaluation and facilitating a harmonized pan-European approach for surveillance to assess the impact of policy interventions; (iii) Refining quantitative methods to evaluate the impact of public policies; (iv) Identifying key barriers and facilitators of implementation of policies; and (v) Advance understanding the equity impact of the development, implementation and evaluation of policies aimed at promoting physical activity and a healthy diet. Finally, and in order to provide concrete evidence for policymaking, existing exemplary policies, namely sugar-sweetened beverages taxation, active transport policies and school policies on nutrition and physical activity were assessed in consideration of these five tasks. At the end of the PEN project's formal runtime, considerable advancements have been made. Here, we present an overview of the most important learnings and outputs.

Correlates of bitter, sweet, salty and umami taste sensitivity in European children: Role of sex, age and weight status - The IDEFICS study.

We aimed to describe differences in taste sensitivity in children according to age across 7- to 11-year-old children from eight European countries. We further compared taste sensitivity between boys vs. girls and under-/normal weight vs. overweight/obese children. Within the European multicentre IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants) study, 1938 school children participated in sweet, bitter, salty and umami detection threshold tests between 2007 and 2010, using the paired comparison staircase method. The lowest concentration at which the child was able to detect a difference to water was determined as taste detection threshold as a proxy of taste sensitivity. Mean taste thresholds were calculated stratified for sex, age groups, weight groups and country. BMI was calculated using measured height and weight; socio-demographic information was collected using questionnaires. Ordinal logistic regressions were conducted to investigate the association between sex, weight status (as categorical exposure variable) and age (as continuous exposure variable) and the taste sensitivity for the four taste modalities (as outcome), separately. Older children were more taste sensitive for sweet and salty and less taste sensitive for umami and bitter than younger children. Girls were more sensitive to sweet taste than boys. Overweight or obese children were less sensitive to sweet and salty taste compared to normal weight children This was the first study comparing taste sensitivity by measuring taste thresholds in children across different European countries. We conclude that taste thresholds are associated with weight status, children become more sensitive to sweet and salty tastes with increasing age, and girls might be more sensitive to sweet than boys.

Associations Between Psychosocial Well-Being, Stressful Life Events and Emotion-Driven Impulsiveness in European Adolescents.

Knowing the extent to which mental well-being and stressful life events during adolescence contribute to personality characteristics related to risk-taking behaviors, such as emotion-driven impulsiveness, is highly relevant for the development of health promotion measures. This study examined whether psychosocial well-being and different stressful life events are associated with emotion-driven impulsiveness. In total, 3,031 adolescents (52% girls; Mage = 13.6 years) were included from the I. Family Study, a cross-sectional examination on lifestyle-related behaviors conducted across eight European countries in 2013/14. Linear mixed-effects regression models showed that higher psychosocial well-being was associated with lower emotion-driven impulsiveness independent of socio-demographic, health-related, and parental variables. A higher number of stressful life events was associated with higher emotion-driven impulsiveness. Psychosocial well-being and stressful life events need to be further considered in the development and tailoring of health promotion strategies that aim to reduce emotion-driven impulsiveness.

Media use trajectories and risk of metabolic syndrome in European children and adolescents: the IDEFICS/I.Family cohort.

BACKGROUND: Media use may influence metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children. Yet, longitudinal studies are scarce. This study aims to evaluate the longitudinal association of childhood digital media (DM) use trajectories with MetS and its components. METHODS: Children from Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Sweden participating in the IDEFICS/I.Family cohort were examined at baseline (W1: 2007/2008) and then followed-up at two examination waves (W2: 2009/2010 and W3: 2013/2014). DM use (hours/day) was calculated as sum of television viewing, computer/game console and internet use. MetS z-score was calculated as sum of age- and sex-specific z-scores of four components: waist circumference, blood pressure, dyslipidemia (mean of triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol-1) and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Unfavorable monitoring levels of MetS and its components were identified (cut-off: ≥ 90th percentile of each score). Children aged 2-16 years with ≥ 2 observations (W1/W2; W1/W3; W2/W3; W1/W2/W3) were eligible for the analysis. A two-step procedure was conducted: first, individual age-dependent DM trajectories were calculated using linear mixed regressions based on random intercept (hours/day) and linear slopes (hours/day/year) and used as exposure measures in association with MetS at a second step. Trajectories were further dichotomized if children increased their DM duration over time above or below the mean. RESULTS: 10,359 children and adolescents (20,075 total observations, 50.3% females, mean age = 7.9, SD = 2.7) were included. DM exposure increased as children grew older (from 2.2 h/day at 2 years to 4.2 h/day at 16 years). Estonian children showed the steepest DM increase; Spanish children the lowest. The prevalence of MetS at last follow-up was 5.5%. Increasing media use trajectories were positively associated with z-scores of MetS (slope: ß = 0.54, 95%CI = 0.20-0.88; intercept: ß = 0.07, 95%CI = 0.02-0.13), and its components after adjustment for puberty, diet and other confounders. Children with increasing DM trajectories above mean had a 30% higher risk of developing MetS (slope: OR = 1.30, 95%CI = 1.04-1.62). Boys developed steeper DM use trajectories and higher risk for MetS compared to girls. CONCLUSIONS: Digital media use appears to be a risk factor for the development of MetS in children and adolescents. These results are of utmost importance for pediatricians and the development of health policies to prevent cardio-metabolic disorders later in life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN, ISRCTN62310987 . Registered 23 February 2018- retrospectively registered.

The temporal relationship between parental concern of overeating and childhood obesity considering genetic susceptibility: longitudinal results from the IDEFICS/I.Family study.

BACKGROUND: Many genes and molecular pathways are associated with obesity, but the mechanisms from genes to obesity are less well known. Eating behaviors represent a plausible pathway, but because the relationships of eating behaviors and obesity may be bi-directional, it remains challenging to resolve the underlying pathways. A longitudinal approach is needed to assess the contribution of genetic risk during the development of obesity in childhood. In this study we aim to examine the relationships between the polygenic risk score for body mass index (PRS-BMI), parental concern of overeating and obesity indices during childhood. METHODS: The IDEFICS/I.Family study is a school-based multicenter pan-European cohort of children observed for 6 years (mean ± SD follow-up 5.8 ± 0.4). Children examined in 2007/2008 (wave 1) (mean ± SD age: 4.4 ± 1.1, range: 2-9 years), in 2009/2010 (wave 2) and in 2013/2014 (wave 3) were included. A total of 5112 children (49% girls) participated at waves 1, 2 and 3. For 2656 children with genome-wide data we constructed a PRS based on 2.1 million single nucleotide polymorphisms. Z-score BMI and z-score waist circumference (WC) were assessed and eating behaviors and relevant confounders were reported by parents via questionnaires. Parental concern of overeating was derived from principal component analyses from an eating behavior questionnaire. RESULTS: In cross-lagged models, the prospective associations between z-score obesity indices and parental concern of overeating were bi-directional. In mediation models, the association between the PRS-BMI and parental concern of overeating at wave 3 was mediated by baseline z-BMI (ß = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.21) and baseline z-WC (ß = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.11, 0.23). To a lesser extent, baseline parental concern of overeating also mediated the association between the PRS-BMI and z-BMI at wave 3 (ß = 0.10, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.13) and z-WC at wave 3 (ß = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the prospective associations between obesity indices and parental concern of overeating are likely bi-directional, but obesity indices have a stronger association with future parental concern of overeating than vice versa. The findings suggest parental concern of overeating as a possible mediator in the genetic susceptibility to obesity and further highlight that other pathways are also involved. A better understanding of the genetic pathways that lead to childhood obesity can help to prevent weight gain. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registry number: ISRCTN62310987 Retrospectively registered 17 September 2018.

Selection of key indicators for European policy monitoring and surveillance for dietary behaviour, physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

BACKGROUND: A pan-European approach to evaluate policy impact on health behaviour requires the employment of a consensus set of established and relevant indicators. METHODS: As part of the Joint Programming Initiative on a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life, the Policy Evaluation Network PEN identified key indicators of health behaviours and their determinants. These key indicators are already, or have the potential to be, adopted by large European Union surveillance systems for the assessment of policy impact. The iterative selection process included consultations in two rounds via email prior to a 2-days expert workshop. The experts collated a list of dietary behaviour, physical activity and sedentary behaviour indicators for European policy monitoring in young and adult populations based on existing frameworks and literature reviews. The expert panel was composed of researchers, policy makers and representatives of major European surveillance systems and related initiatives, as well as, representatives of organisations providing monitoring data, such as the European Commission and Eurostat. RESULTS: The process provided two lists of key indicators including 37 diet 'policy' indicators and 35 indicators for dietary behaviour and their 'determinants'; as well as 32 physical activity 'policy' indicators and 35 indicators for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and their 'determinants'. CONCLUSION: A total of 139 key indicators related to the individual, the setting and the population level, and suitable for the assessment of dietary behaviour, physical activity and sedentary behaviour were prioritised by policy makers and researchers with the ultimate aim to embed policy evaluation measures in existing surveillance systems across the European Union. In a next step, data sources and suitable instruments will be identified to assess these key indicators.

Ultra-processed foods consumption and diet quality of European children, adolescents and adults: Results from the I.Family study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Food processing has been indicated as a factor capable of negatively affecting the global food system, including the profile of consumers' diets. The objectives of the present study were to provide a description of the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in the large population of children, adolescents and adults from eight European countries participating to the I.Family study, and to investigate the association between UPFs intake and nutritional quality of the diet. METHODS AND RESULTS: Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-h dietary recall. The quality of the diet was evaluated by the Healthy Dietary Adherence Score (HDAS) using an FFQ. UPFs were classified according to the NOVA classification. Almost half of the daily energy intake of the 7073 participants came from UPFs, and this trend decreased progressively with age. UPFs contributed more than 50 % of the daily intake of total and saturated fat, carbohydrates and about 70 % of sugars intake in children and adolescents. No differences in UPFs consumption were found according to the educational and socio-economic status of the population. Energy intake increased across the quintiles of UPFs intake, while HDAS decreased. The frequency of consumption of fruit and vegetable, fish, and fibre rich foods was low in the fifth quintile of UPFs intake, both in adolescents and in adults. The consumption of foods rich in calories and low in nutritional content, operationally defined as "junk food", was significantly higher in the fifth quintile. CONCLUSIONS: In the population of the European I.Family study, UPFs contributed a large proportion of the daily energy intake, especially in children and adolescents. Higher consumption of UPFs was associated with a lower quality of the diet. REGISTRATION NUMBER FOR CLINICAL TRIALS: ISRCTN62310987.

Like me, like you - relative importance of peers and siblings on children's fast food consumption and screen time but not sports club participation depends on age.

BACKGROUND: Lifestyle interventions to prevent paediatric obesity often target family and peer settings; their success is likely to depend on the influence that peers and families exert on children's lifestyle behaviors at different developmental stages. OBJECTIVE: First, to determine whether children's lifestyle behavior more closely resembles their peers' or siblings' behaviors. Secondly, to investigate longitudinally whether children's behavioral change is predicted by that of their peers or their siblings as they grow older. METHODS: The European prospective IDEFICS/I.Family cohort (baseline survey: 2007/2008, first follow-up: 2009/2010, and second follow-up: 2013/2014) aims at investigating risk factors for overweight and related behaviors during childhood and adolescence. The present investigation includes 2694 observations of children and their siblings aged 2 to 18 years. Peers were defined as same-sex, same-age children in the same community and identified from the full cohort. The longitudinal analysis (mean follow-up time: 3.7 years) includes 525 sibling pairs. Children's lifestyle behaviors including fast food consumption (frequency/week), screen time (hours/week) and sports club participation (hours/week) were assessed by questionnaire. Data were analyzed using multilevel linear models. RESULTS: Children's lifestyle behavior was associated with the respective behavior of their peers and sibling for all 3 behaviors. For fast food consumption, the peer resemblance was more than 6-fold higher than the sibling resemblance and the peer resemblance surpassed the sibling resemblance by the age of 9-10 years. The similarities with peers for fast food consumption and screen time steadily increased, while the similarities with siblings steadily decreased with increasing age of the children (Pinteraction < 0.001). In contrast, the relative importance of peers and siblings on sports club duration did not vary by the age of the children. Longitudinal results showed that children's changes in fast food consumption were more strongly associated with those in their peer group than their sibling, in particular if the age gap between siblings was large. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our results support the implementation of multi-setting interventions for improving lifestyle behaviors in children. Our findings might also guide future intervention studies in the choice of timing and setting in which interventions are likely to be most effective. From the ages of 9-10 years onwards, family- or home-based interventions targeting children's fast food intake and screen time behavior may become less effective than school- or community-based interventions aimed at peer groups.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviour and bone stiffness index across weight status in European children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: The associations between physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB) and bone health may be differentially affected by weight status during growth. This study aims to assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between PA, SB and bone stiffness index (SI) in European children and adolescents, taking the weight status into consideration. METHODS: Calcaneus SI was first measured by quantitative ultrasound among children aged 2-9 years old in 2007/08. It was measured again after 2 years in the IDEFICS study and after 6 years in the I. Family study. A sample of 2008 participants with time spent at sports clubs, watching TV and playing computer/games self-reported by questionnaire, and a subsample of 1037 participants with SB, light PA (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) objectively measured using Actigraph accelerometers were included in the analyses. Weight status was defined as thin/normal and overweight/obese according to the extended International Obesity Task Force criteria. Linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between PA, SB and SI percentiles, stratified by weight status. RESULTS: The cross-sectional association between weekly duration of watching TV and SI percentiles was negative in thin/normal weight group (ß = - 0.35, p = 0.008). However, baseline weekly duration of watching TV (ß = - 0.63, p = 0.021) and change after 2 years (ß = - 0.63, p = 0.022) as well as the change in weekly duration of playing computer/games after 6 years (ß = - 0.75, p = 0.019) were inversely associated with corresponding changes in SI percentiles in overweight/obese group. Change in time spent at sports clubs was positively associated with change in SI percentiles after 2 years (ß = 1.28, p = 0.001), with comparable effect sizes across weight status. In the subsample with accelerometer data, we found a positive cross-sectional association between MVPA and SI percentiles in thin/normal weight group. Baseline MVPA predicted changes in SI percentiles after 2 and 6 years in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested the beneficial effect of PA on SI. However, the increasing durations of screen-based SB might be risk factors for SI development, especially in overweight/obese children and adolescents.

A cross-sectional study of obesogenic behaviours and family rules according to family structure in European children.

BACKGROUND: There has been an increase in children growing up in non-traditional families, such as single-parent and blended families. Children from such families have a higher prevalence of obesity and poorer health outcomes, but research on the relationship with obesogenic behaviours is limited. OBJECTIVES: Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether there are associations between family structures and obesogenic behaviours and related family rules in European children and adolescents. METHODS: The sample included 7664 children (mean age ± SD: 10.9 ± 2.9) from 4923 families who were participants of the multi-centre I.Family study (2013/2014) conducted in 8 European countries. Family structure was assessed by a detailed interview on kinship and household. Obesogenic behaviours (screen time, sleep duration, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)) and family rules (rules for computer and television, bedtime routine, availability of SSBs during meals) were determined by standardized questionnaires. Multilevel mixed-effects linear and logistic regression models were used to model the associations of family structure with obesogenic behaviours and family rules. Sex, age, parental education level, number of children and adults in the household and BMI z-score were covariates in the models. Two-parent biological families were set as the reference category. RESULTS: Children from single-parent families were less likely to have family rules regarding screen time (OR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.40-0.94, p = 0.026) with higher reported hours of screen time per week (ß = 2.70 h/week, 95% CI: 1.39-4.00, p < 0.001). The frequency of weekly SSB consumption differed by family structure in a sex-specific manner: girls from single-parent (ß = 3.19 frequency/week, 95% CI: 0.91-5.47, p = 0.006) and boys from blended/adoptive families (ß = 3.01 frequency/week, 95% CI: 0.99-5.03, p = 0.004) consumed more SSBs. Sleep duration, bedtime routines and availability of SSBs during meals did not differ between children from these family structures. Parental education did not modify any of these associations. CONCLUSIONS: Parents in non-traditional family structures appear to experience more difficulties in restricting screen time and the intake of SSBs in their children than parents in traditional two-parent family structures. Our findings therefore suggest that additional support and effective strategies for parents in non-traditional families may help to reduce obesogenic behaviours in children from such family types.

Predictive associations between lifestyle behaviours and dairy consumption: The IDEFICS study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviours (SB) are related to obesity and cardiometabolic risk; however, the literature is controversial regarding the effect of dairy consumption on the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. The aim of this study was to assess longitudinally the relationship between specific lifestyle behaviours (PA and SB) and dairy consumption in a sample of European children and adolescents. METHODS AND RESULTS: Children from the IDEFICS study were included in the analyses. Two measurements, with 2 years' interval, were conducted. A total of 1688 (50.8% boys) children provided information regarding diet, measured by a 24-h dietary recall, PA measured by accelerometers and parent-reported sedentary screen time (SST) at both time points. Different combinations of these behaviours, at each survey and over time, were derived applying specific recommendations. Multilevel ordinal logistic regression and analysis of covariance were used to assess their association with dairy consumption, adjusted for potential confounders. Differences by gender were found regarding dairy product consumption and also adherence to SB and PA recommendations at T0 and T1. Children meeting both lifestyle recommendations, at the two measurement points, had higher probability to consume more milk and yogurt and less cheese than the rest of combinations. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that European children with a healthy lifestyle, especially regarding PA and SB over time, consumed more milk and yogurt. This study suggests that the protective effect of specific dairy products found in literature could be partially due to the association of their consumption with specific healthy lifestyles.

The associations of specific school- and individual-level characteristics with obesity among primary school children in Beijing, China.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the associations between school-level characteristics and obesity among Chinese primary school children with consideration of individual-level characteristics. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015/2016. School-level characteristics were assessed using an interviewer-administered school questionnaire, and a 'school-based obesity prevention index' was further developed. Individual-level characteristics were collected by self-administered questionnaires. Objectively measured height and weight of students were collected, and obesity status was classified according to the International Obesity Task Force criteria for Asian children. Generalised linear mixed models were used to estimate the associations among the school- and individual-level characteristics and obesity of students. SETTING: Thirty-seven primary schools from an urban and a rural district of Beijing, China. PARTICIPANTS: School staffs, 2201 students and their parents. RESULTS: The school-based obesity prevention index involved the number of health professionals, availability of students' health records, monitoring students' nutrition status, frequency of health education activities, reporting achievements of obesity prevention activities to parents, duration of physical activity during school time and availability of playground equipment. The prevalence of obesity was lower in schools with the higher index value compared with that in schools with the lower index value (OR 0·56; 95 % CI 0·40, 0·79). Some individual-level characteristics were negatively associated with childhood obesity: liking sports, duration of screen time ≤2 h/d, perceived lower eating speed, parental non-overweight/obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Irrespective of individual-level characteristics, the specific school-level characteristics had a cumulative effect on obesity among Chinese primary school children. Further school-based obesity intervention should consider these characteristics simultaneously.

Relationship between perception of emotional home atmosphere and fruit and vegetable consumption in European adolescents: results from the I.Family survey.

OBJECTIVE: Consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V) among adolescents falls below recommendations in many Western countries. The impact of social and emotional aspects of family life on adolescent dietary behaviour may contribute to this, yet remains under-investigated. The present study examines the association between adolescents' perceptions of emotional home atmosphere (EHA) and their F&V consumption frequency. DESIGN: An FFQ was used to assess F&V consumption frequency. EHA was assessed by an eight-item measure with three subscales: perceived home warmth, strictness and relational tension. EHA subscales were used as binary variables: a score equal to or above the median value was considered as a higher perception, while a score below the median was considered as a lower perception of the EHA in question. Country differences in meeting the European 5-a-day recommendations were described. Further, the association between EHA and F&V consumption frequency was investigated using multiple linear regression. SETTING: Regional examination centres in eight European countries. PARTICIPANTS: Adolescents (n 3196) aged 12-18 years. RESULTS: The mean F&V consumption frequency was 3·27 (sd 2·84) times/d. Only 16·1 % of boys and 18 % of girls in our study sample met the recommendation of five F&V daily. After controlling for age, sex, education level of the parents and country of origin, perceived home warmth was associated with a 16 (95 % CI 9, 22) % higher F&V consumption frequency (P < 0·001). CONCLUSIONS: F&V consumption frequency was suboptimal in the survey areas. Interventions targeting perceived warmth as a component of EHA could potentially have a positive effect on adolescents' dietary behaviour.

Emotion-driven impulsiveness but not decision-making ability and cognitive inflexibility predicts weight status in adults.

In this study we aimed to determine whether decision-making ability, cognitive inflexibility and emotion-driven impulsiveness are associated with weight status as expressed by body mass index (BMI), percentage body fat, waist circumference and skinfold thickness in adults from eight different European countries taking part in the I.Family study. The Bechara Gambling Task was used to assess decision-making ability (n = 1717). The Berg Card Sorting Test was used to measure cognitive inflexibility (n = 1509). Lastly, the negative urgency subscale from the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale was used to measure emotion-driven impulsiveness (n = 4450). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that more emotion-driven impulsiveness was statistically significantly associated with a higher BMI, a higher percentage body fat, and a larger waist circumference in adults, controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic status, country and binge eating; but not with skinfold thickness. Cognitive inflexibility and decision-making ability were not statistically significantly associated with any of the weight status related variables. These results support that impulsivity in response to negative emotions, but not decision-making ability or cognitive inflexibility, is associated with the susceptibility to excessive weight (as indicated by a higher BMI, a higher percentage body fat, and a larger waist circumference). In people behaving impulsively when emotional, focusing on reducing negative affect or improving coping skills is of interest in interventions targeting obesity. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: The I.Family study is registered in the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN62310987) on February 23, 2018.