Attitude toward breakfast mediates the associations of wake time and appetite for breakfast with frequency of eating breakfast.

PURPOSE: We investigated associations among attitude toward breakfast, appetite for breakfast, wake time, personality traits, self-esteem, and frequency of eating breakfast in university students and proposed a model of factors affecting the frequency of eating breakfast. METHODS: The participants, 555 Japanese university students (177 men, 378 women), completed a questionnaire about their height and weight, living with family, wake time, frequency of eating breakfast, appetite for breakfast, attitude toward breakfast, personality traits, and self-esteem. Appetite for breakfast was evaluated with a four-point Likert-type scale. Attitude toward breakfast was assessed with a 13-item questionnaire using a five-point Likert-type scale; responses to the items were summed, and divided by the number of items to produce a score. RESULTS: Multiple linear regression analysis showed that frequency of eating breakfast was positively associated with appetite for breakfast and attitude toward breakfast, and inversely associated with wake time. Wake time was inversely associated with attitude toward breakfast, and appetite for breakfast was positively associated with attitude toward breakfast. Structural equation modeling showed that the structured model based on the multiple regression analysis was a good fit for both men (chi-square value to the degrees of freedom [χ2/df] = 1.096, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.023) and women (χ2/df = 1.510, RMSEA = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that wake time and appetite for breakfast are directly associated with frequency of eating breakfast. Attitude toward breakfast mediates the indirect association between frequency of eating breakfast and both wake time and appetite for breakfast. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Involvement of glutamatergic mechanisms in the median preoptic nucleus in the dipsogenic response induced by angiotensinergic activation of the subfornical organ in rats.

Experiments were done to investigate the role of glutamatergic systems in the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) in the water ingestion induced by administration of angiotensin II (ANG II) in the subfornical organ (SFO) in the awake rat. Microdialysis methods were utilized to quantify the extracellular content of glutamate (Glu) in the region of MnPO. Microinjection of ANG II (10-10 M) into the SFO significantly increased the release of Glu in the MnPO in the rats under the condition that water is available for drinking and the rats under the condition that water is not available for drinking. The amount of initial maximal increases in the Glu levels elicited by the ANG II injection was quite similar in drinking and non-drinking rats, whereas the duration of the response was much longer in non-drinking than in drinking rats. The amount of water ingestion in 20 min immediately after the ANG II injection was significantly enhanced by previous injections of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA, 10 µM) into the MnPO, while the ANG II-induced water ingestion was attenuated by pretreatment with the NMDA antagonist dizocilpine (MK-801, 10 µM). The amount of water intake elicited by the ANG II injection into the SFO was enhanced by previous injections of either the non-NMDA agonist kainic acid (KA, 50 µM) or quisqualic acid (QA, 50 µM) into the MnPO. On the contrary, the ANG II-induced drinking response was diminished by pretreatment with the non-NMDA antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX, 10 µM) in the MnPO. Each injection of NMDA, KA, and QA into the MnPO produced drinking behavior. These results imply that the glutamatergic neural pathways to the MnPO may transmit the information for eliciting drinking in response to ANG II acting at the SFO. Our data further provide evidence that the ANG II-induced dipsogenic response may be mediated through both NMDA and non-NMDA glutamatergic receptor mechanisms in the MnPO.

Psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire for Children.

This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the 20-item Japanese version of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire for Children (DEBQ-C). A population-based sample of 502 Japanese school children who were fifth- and sixth-graders in elementary schools and first- and second-graders in junior high schools was assessed. A sample was randomly split into two subsamples, one for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and another for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Internal consistency estimates for subscales (restrained, emotional, and external) were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. Measurement invariance was examined across each subgroup (genders: boys and girls, school categories: elementary school and junior high school, body mass index (BMI) categories: underweight, normal weight, and overweight) by using multi-group CFA. The Japanese version of the DEBQ-C demonstrates good results of item analysis. The three-factor structure of the original DEBQ-C was supported by both EFA and CFA. The reliability of each factor was also satisfied (restrained: α = 0.86, emotional: α = 0.90, external: α = 0.86). Results of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis supported its metric and scalar or partial scalar measurement invariance across all subgroups. In gender subgroup, girls scored higher on restrained eating. In school subgroup, junior high school children scored higher on emotional and external eating. In BMI subgroup, overweight children scored higher on restrained eating. These findings suggest that the Japanese version of the DEBQ-C is a psychometrically valid and reliable instrument for assessing eating behaviors across gender, school categories, and BMI categories in Japanese children.

Association of anthropometric status, perceived stress, and personality traits with eating behavior in university students.

PURPOSE: We investigated the association of anthropometric status, perceived stress, and personality traits with eating behavior in university students. METHODS: The participants, 1546 Japanese university students (964 males, 582 females), completed a questionnaire which asked for their current height and weight, ideal height and weight, eating behaviors, perceived stress, and personality traits. RESULTS: Restrained eating was higher in normal-weight participants compared with underweight participants in both males and females (p < 0.001, both males and females). Restrained eating in normal-weight males was significantly lower in normal-weight females (p < 0.001). In addition, normal-weight males reported less stress than normal-weight females (anxiety/uncertainty, p = 0.037; tiredness/physical responses, p < 0.001; autonomic symptoms, p < 0.001; depression/feeling, p < 0.001) and underweight males (tiredness/physical responses, p = 0.018; autonomic symptoms, p = 0.001). Moreover, among normal-weight males, neuroticism was significantly lower compared with normal-weight females (p < 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, male participants revealed positive association between restrained eating and body mass index (ß = 0.199, p < 0.001) or body mass index difference (ß = - 0.170, p = 0.001). In contrast, female revealed more significant associations between emotional and external eating and perceived stress or personality traits compared with males. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that associations between eating behavior and anthropometric status or psychological factors are different by each eating behavior, which is partly influenced by gender difference. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Associations among perceived health competence, effortful control, self-control, and personality traits in Japanese university students.

Perceived health competence is thought to contribute to lifelong healthy behavior. However, the factors that affect perceived health competence have not been investigated. We investigated the associations among perceived health competence, effortful control, self-control, and personality traits in university students and proposed a model of how these factors affect perceived health competence. The participants were 320 Japanese university students who completed a questionnaire regarding their height, weight, perceived health competence, effortful control, self-control, and personality traits. The three-step multiple regression analysis showed that effortful control was positively associated with the perceived health competence, and self-control was positively with, and impulsivity was inversely associated with effortful control respectively, indicating that effortful control was an intermediate factor. Structural equation modeling showed a good fit for both genders, with a common path for both genders to perceived health competence via effortful control and a different involvement of personality traits for men and women. These results suggest that effortful control is directly associated with perceived health competence; in addition, both self-control and impulsiveness are indirectly associated with perceived health competence via effortful control.

Similarities and discrepancies between commercially available bioelectrical impedance analysis system and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for body composition assessment in 10-14-year-old children.

A variety of easy-to-use commercial bioelectrical impedance appliances are available. The aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of a commercially available body composition meter using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) by comparing its measurement results with those obtained from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The participants were 443 children aged from 10 to 14 years (226 boys and 217 girls). Fat mass, fat-free mass, lean body mass, percentage of body fat, and bone mineral contents were evaluated for all participants using BIA and DXA. The agreement in the anthropometric data obtained from both devices was analyzed using correlation analysis, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), Bland-Altman plots, and ordinary least products regression analysis. Equivalence between both devices was tested by two one-sided t-test. All measured indicators showed strong linear correlations between the two measurement systems (r, 0.853-1.000). Fat mass, fat-free mass, and lean body mass showed absolute concordance (ICC, 0.902-0.972; Lin's CCC, 0.902-0.972). BIA overestimated bone mineral content (62.7-66.5%) and underestimated percentage of body fat (- 8.9 to - 0.8%), lean body mass (- 3.5 to - 1.8%), and body mass (- 0.8 to - 0.5%). For fat mass and fat-free mass, the overestimate or underestimate varied according to the sex and statistical analysis test. Bland-Altman analysis and ordinary least products analysis showed fixed bias and proportional bias in all indicators. Results according to quartiles of body mass index showed poor agreement for fat mass and percentage of body fat in both boys and girls in the lowest body mass index quartile. The present results revealed strong linear correlations between BIA and DXA, which confirmed the validity of the present single-frequency BIA-derived parameters. Our results suggest that BIA cannot provide the exact same values as DXA for some body composition parameters, but that performance is sufficient for longitudinal use within an individual for daily health management and monitoring.

Association between the recognition of muscle mass and exercise habits or eating behaviors in female college students.

This study aimed to examine the association between muscle mass and perception of body shape, desired body shape, physical strength, exercise habits, and eating behaviors. Height, weight, and body composition in 270 female university students were measured. The questionnaire on body shape perception, desired body shape, dieting experience, current, and past exercise habits, exercise preference, and eating behaviors were administered. The analysis of covariance with body fat mass as the covariate found that the skeletal muscle index (SMI) was different among each group on each of body perception or desired body shape (all, p < 0.001). In the post hoc test on body shape perception, the SMI in "obese" was significantly more than that in "slim" (p < 0.001) and "normal" (p < 0.001). In the desired body shape, the SMI in "become thin" was more than that in "maintain as current shape" (p < 0.001). Further, a significant difference was found among the categories of diet experience, with body fat mass as the covariate. In the post hoc test, the SMI in "yes" was more than that in "no" (p < 0.001). These results indicate that not only body fat mass but skeletal muscle mass drives young females' desire for thinness even with exercise advantages.

Association of social support with gratitude and sense of coherence in Japanese young women: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Recent studies have shown that perceived social support is associated with gratitude and sense of coherence, but evidence for this concept remains scarce. In the present study, we investigated relationships between social support, gratitude, and sense of coherence, focusing on the construct of and source of social support among young women. METHODS: The study was conducted in 2014 in Japan. Participants comprised 208 female university students (aged 19.9 ± 1.1 years), who completed a self-administered anonymous questionnaire regarding perceived social support, gratitude, and sense of coherence. RESULTS: Emotional and instrumental social support from acquaintances were found to be lower than those from family and friends. Gratitude was positively correlated with all forms of social support except instrumental social support from acquaintances. However, sense of coherence was positively correlated with both emotional and instrumental social support from family and only emotional social support from acquaintances. Multiple regression analysis showed that emotional support from family and emotional support from acquaintances were positively associated with gratitude whereas emotional support from family was associated with sense of coherence. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that emotional social support from family was related to both gratitude and sense of coherence.