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.

Disordered eating in three different age groups in Cyprus: a comparative cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate disordered eating behaviours (DEBs) in different age groups in a Cypriot non-clinical population sample. STUDY DESIGN: Comparative cross-sectional study. METHOD: A total of 1716 participants from the Cyprus component of the I.Family study completed the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26). The EAT-26 score ≥20 was used to define participants at risk for DEBs. Participants were divided according to age: adolescence (12-18 years old), young adulthood (25-45 years old) and middle adulthood (46-60 years old). RESULTS: Mean EAT-26 total scores were higher for middle adulthood men and women compared with the two younger age groups. Young adulthood women had the highest percentage of behavioural symptoms of DEBs: binge eating (35%) and laxatives/diet pills/diuretics (12%) compared with the other age groups. Men and women in young adulthood had the highest percentage of participants with EAT-26 scores ≥20. In logistic regression analysis, age group did not prove a significant predictor of DEB risk in a model adjusting for sex, body mass index and physical activity. CONCLUSION: DEB can present at any age and was not confined to adolescence.

Associations between social vulnerabilities and psychosocial problems in European children. Results from the IDEFICS study.

The effect of socioeconomic inequalities on children's mental health remains unclear. This study aims to explore the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between social vulnerabilities and psychosocial problems, and the association between accumulation of vulnerabilities and psychosocial problems. 5987 children aged 2-9 years from eight European countries were assessed at baseline and 2-year follow-up. Two different instruments were employed to assess children's psychosocial problems: the KINDL (Questionnaire for Measuring Health-Related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents) was used to evaluate children's well-being and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to evaluate children's internalising problems. Vulnerable groups were defined as follows: children whose parents had minimal social networks, children from non-traditional families, children of migrant origin or children with unemployed parents. Logistic mixed-effects models were used to assess the associations between social vulnerabilities and psychosocial problems. After adjusting for classical socioeconomic and lifestyle indicators, children whose parents had minimal social networks were at greater risk of presenting internalising problems at baseline and follow-up (OR 1.53, 99% CI 1.11-2.11). The highest risk for psychosocial problems was found in children whose status changed from traditional families at T0 to non-traditional families at T1 (OR 1.60, 99% CI 1.07-2.39) and whose parents had minimal social networks at both time points (OR 1.97, 99% CI 1.26-3.08). Children with one or more vulnerabilities accumulated were at a higher risk of developing psychosocial problems at baseline and follow-up. Therefore, policy makers should implement measures to strengthen the social support for parents with a minimal social network.

Bidirectional associations between psychosocial well-being and body mass index in European children: longitudinal findings from the IDEFICS study.

BACKGROUND: The negative impact of childhood overweight on psychosocial well-being has been demonstrated in a number of studies. There is also evidence that psychosocial well-being may influence future overweight. We examined the bidirectional association between childhood overweight and psychosocial well-being in children from a large European cohort. The dual aim was to investigate the chronology of associations between overweight and psychosocial health indicators and the extent to which these associations may be explained by parental education. METHODS: Participants from the IDEFICS study were recruited from eight countries between September 2007 and June 2008 when the children were aged 2 to 9.9 years old. Children and families provided data on lifestyle, psychosocial well-being, and measured anthropometry at baseline and at follow-up 2 years later. This study includes children with weight, height, and psychosocial well-being measurements at both time points (n = 7,831). Psychosocial well-being was measured by the KINDL® and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire respectively. The first instrument measures health-related quality of life including emotional well-being, self-esteem, parent relations and social relations while the second measures well-being based on emotional symptoms, conduct problems and peer-related problems. Logistic regression was used for modeling longitudinal associations. RESULTS: Children who were overweight at baseline had increased risk of poor health-related quality of life (odds ratio (OR) = 1.23; 95 % confidence interval (CI):1.03-1.48) measured 2 years later; this association was unidirectional. In contrast to health-related quality of life, poor well-being at baseline was associated with increased risk of overweight (OR = 1.39; 95 % CI:1.03-1.86) at 2 year follow-up; this association was also only observed in one direction. Adjustment for parental education did not change our findings. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the association between overweight and psychosocial well-being may be bidirectional but varies by assessment measures. Future research should further investigate which aspects of psychosocial well-being are most likely to precede overweight and which are more likely to be consequences of overweight.