Diet quality and associations with motivation and ability to consume a healthy diet among adolescents from urban low-income households in Bangladesh.

In low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban areas, adolescent diets consist mainly of energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods, putting them at risk of malnutrition and non-communicable diseases (NCD). In Bangladesh, little is known about the diet quality of adolescents, their food choices and the drivers of such choices. This study assessed motivations and ability to consume a healthy diet among adolescent girls and boys from low-income urban families and how these drivers were associated with dietary diversity and diet quality. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 299 adolescents (15-19 years) from low-income households in Dhaka city during September-October 2020. The Diet Quality Questionnaire was used to collect non-quantitative food intake in the previous day or night to calculate diet quality indicators of food group diversity score, % of adolescents achieving minimum dietary diversity, NCD-Protect and NCD-Risk and the Global Dietary Recommendations score. Motivation was measured by 11 food choice motives. Ability was measured by belief in own ability to engage in healthy eating behaviors (self-efficacy). Adolescent diets showed a mean food group diversity of 4.9 out of 10, with 60% of adolescents achieving minimum dietary diversity, but lacked health-promoting foods (average of 2.7 out of 9 food groups) yet included few foods to avoid and limit (1.6 out of 9). Adolescents valued food choice motive 'safety' the most, followed by 'health', 'taste', 'price', 'convenience' and 'local or seasonal'. A higher motivation to consume 'local or seasonal' and a lower motivation driven by 'price', and a higher perceived self-efficacy were associated with better diet quality. Future interventions should address self-efficacy, concerns about food price and increase local and seasonal foods availability in the urban poor food environment of Dhaka to improve overall diet quality.

Emotional, external and restrained eating behaviour and BMI trajectories in adolescence.

Individual differences in eating behaviours might partly explain the variations in development of weight gain and subsequent overweight and obesity. In the current study, identified trajectories of BMI in adolescence and their associations with restrained, emotional and external eating were tested. For the assessment of BMI trajectories growth mixture modelling was used; a method used to identify clusters of individuals within a population that follow distinct developmental trajectories. In total 328 Dutch adolescents (13-15years old at baseline) self-reported their height and weight at five annual waves and their eating behaviour at baseline. Development of BMI was best fitted in five distinct trajectories that showed similar moderate increase of BMI over time; parallel but at a different level. High restrained eaters had a higher chance of being in the higher BMI trajectories. Emotional and external eating were unrelated to the BMI trajectories. In conclusion, adolescents in this study followed very parallel patterns of moderate increases in BMI which suggests that factors acting on individual differences in weight status have had their influence mostly at a - perhaps much - younger age. Restraint eating was related to BMI in early adolescence, but not to an increases or decreases in BMI over the course of adolescence.

An explorative study with convenience vegetables in urban Nigeria-The Veg-on-Wheels intervention.

Nigerian consumers have been found to view vegetables as healthy and health is a principal motivation for consumption; however, consumers also experience barriers related to preparation time and availability of vegetables. We therefore conducted a Veg-on-Wheels intervention, in which ready-to-cook, washed and pre-cut green leafy vegetables (GLV) were kept cool and sold for five weeks at convenient locations near workplaces and on the open market in Akure, Nigeria. Surveys were conducted prior to the intervention with 680 consumers and during the final week of the intervention with 596 consumers near workplaces and 204 consumers at the open market. Both buyers and non-buyers of the intervention were included; 49% buyers in the workplace sample and 47% in the open market sample. The Veg-on-Wheels intervention was successful, with high awareness, positive attitudes and high customer satisfaction. GLV intake was higher for Veg-on-Wheels buyers compared with non-buyers after the intervention, i.e., 10.8 vs. 8.0 portions per week, respectively. Also the intake of other vegetables was higher in the intervention group. The motives and barriers for buyers and non-buyers differed across the selling locations: main barriers were trust in the vendor and GLV source. These trust issues and vendor preferences were viewed as more important to respondents at the market than those near workplaces. This study is the first intervention study on the selling of ready-to-cook convenience vegetables in urban Nigeria. It shows that a market exists for convenience vegetables and that they have the potential to increase vegetable intake. Insights on both the food environment and consumers' motives and behaviour was crucial for designing and evaluating the intervention.

Parental control and the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) interaction on emotional eating in adolescence.

The present study addresses the emergence of emotional eating in adolescence in relation to maternal or paternal psychological control. A reduction of food intake is considered the biological natural response to distress, therefore we tested whether the a-typical stress response of emotional eating develops in interaction with genetic vulnerability. Carrying the A1 allele of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene Taq1A polymorphism (rs1800497) is associated with reduced dopamine D2 receptor availability in the brain. We hypothesized that carrying this allele would confer risk for the development of emotional eating, particularly so in adolescents with adverse rearing experiences. Participants were 279 Dutch adolescents (average age of 13.4) that participated in a prospective study with a four-year follow-up. We found a moderator effect of DRD2 genotype on the relation between both maternal and paternal psychological control and increases in emotional eating in both sexes. Adolescents showed only an increase in emotional eating in relation to high psychological control if they carried at least one DRD2 A1 allele. This study is the first to show that the relationship between adverse rearing experiences and emotional eating might be dependent on genetic make-up.

Longitudinal relationships between fathers', mothers', and adolescents' restrained eating.

Family members can exert important direct and indirect influence on the eating behaviours of children; these include modelling, and transmission of preferences, beliefs, and attitudes. Current studies on family similarities in dieting behaviours however show inconsistent results. The present study examines family similarities and reciprocal influences on restrained eating, using data of a longitudinal three-wave full-family study consisting of both parents and two adolescent sibling children (aged 13-16 at time 1) from 404 Dutch families. All family members reported their restrained eating behaviours at three annual waves. Cross-sectional associations were found between parents' and adolescents' restrained eating, but overall no transmission of restrained eating was found between family members over time. Similarities were higher between daughters and mothers compared to sons and mothers. Longitudinally, no differences in the results were found between boys and girls, or between adolescents with high or low quality relationships with their parents.

Restrained eating and BMI: a longitudinal study among adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Although restrained eating is believed to increase overeating and weight in the long term, the opposite has also been found: Heavy individuals are more likely to diet. The objective of the current study was to test both pathways for adolescents. DESIGN: A longitudinal model was used to explore the bidirectional associations between restrained eating and body mass index (BMI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: At 3 annual waves, restrained eating and BMI were obtained from both older (M age 15.2 years old) and younger (M age 13.4 years old) adolescent boys and girls who were sibling pairs in 404 Dutch families. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling showed that BMI predicted restrained eating more consistently than the other way round. The results remained the same when analyzed by sex, age, socioeconomic status, and overeating tendency. Thus, in our general survey of adolescents restrained eating did not seem to be a successful weight loss strategy, nor did it consistently predict weight increase. CONCLUSION: Positive associations between restrained eating and BMI should mainly be interpreted in the sense that higher BMI predicted more restrained eating.

Similarities and reciprocal influences in eating behavior within sibling pairs: a longitudinal study.

The present study investigated similarities and reciprocal influences in emotional, external and restrained eating in adolescent siblings, and the moderating role of sex and quality of relationship. A total of 415 sibling pairs (aged 13-16 years) participated in this two-wave one-year longitudinal study. Analyses were conducted by means of Structural Equation Modeling. Cross-sectional findings demonstrated that siblings are moderately similar in their eating behavior. Longitudinal findings showed that the younger siblings exert a small influence on the emotional and external eating behavior of the older siblings. No support was found for the older siblings affecting the younger siblings in their eating behavior. Furthermore, no sex differences were found in the associations between sibling eating behaviors within and over time. However, we did find a moderating effect for the quality of the relationship concerning similarities in emotional eating. Future research focusing on various sociocultural influences on adolescents' eating behaviors should also include younger siblings.

Sensory-specific satiety in obese and normal-weight women.

BACKGROUND: Sensory-specific satiety has been found to play an important role in food choice and meal termination, and it might be a factor contributing to obesity. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that obese and normal-weight people have different sensitivities to sensory-specific satiety for high-fat foods. DESIGN: Sensory-specific satiety was measured in 21 obese [x body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)): 33.1] and 23 normal-weight (BMI: 22.8) women who were matched for restrained eating behavior, physical activity, age, and smoking behavior. Food intake, appetite ratings, and liking scores before and after an ad libitum lunch were measured. Products differed in fat content and taste (ie, low-fat sweet, low-fat savory, high-fat sweet, and high-fat savory), and the subjects tested all 4 products. In the first study, sandwiches were tested; in the second study, snacks were tested. RESULTS: Sensory-specific satiety for all products was observed in both subject groups. No significant differences were observed between the obese and normal-weight subjects in either sensory-specific satiety or food intake for any of the products or product categories tested. Taste (sweet or savory) had a significantly (P < 0.05) stronger effect on sensory-specific satiety than did fat content. Appetite ratings strongly decreased after lunch, and appetite for a meal or snack after lunch was significantly higher in obese than in normal-weight subjects, whereas scores before lunch did not differ significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Obese and normal-weight people do not differ in their sensitivity to sensory-specific satiety, and factors other than fat content have the greatest effect on sensory-specific satiety.

Food choices of 4 to 6-year-old overweight and nonoverweight children while role-playing as adults.

The following study compared the food choices made by overweight and non-overweight preschoolers while role-playing a mother who bought food for a family, and examined the influence of maternal restriction on food choice. After screening 619 children for height and weight, 56 overweight children (equal sex distribution, ages 4-6) and 56 non-overweight children (matched on age, sex, demographics) were selected to participate. Children's purchases of low and high caloric snacks, drinks, and dinner products in a miniature supermarket were recorded. Mother and child-reported maternal restriction were assessed using the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) and the Kid's CFQ. Compared to non-overweight children, overweight children choose more high-calorie foods when role-playing a mother. Maternal restriction did not differ between overweight and non-overweight children. Both children's and mothers' reported maternal restriction were unrelated to food choices and there were no significant interactions between restriction and weight status on food choices. In conclusion, while parental restriction seems to be unrelated to children's food choices, family food patterns might have great impact already at young ages.

Emotional, external, restrained eating and overweight in Dutch adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to determine how emotional, external and restrained eating behavior and other health-related lifestyle factors were associated with being overweight in adolescents. Moreover, demographic and ethnic differences in eating behavior have been examined. The respondents were 10,087 Dutch adolescents aged 11-16 years (M= 13.0, SD= 0.8). Self-reported eating behavior was measured with the DEBQ. Health-related lifestyle was determined by physical activity, breakfasting, fruit consumption and snacking. High restrained, and low external eating were positively associated with being overweight, whereas no significant association between emotional eating and being overweight was found for girls, and a negative association for boys. Adolescents who ate breakfast on a daily basis were less likely to be overweight than those who ate breakfast irregularly or never. Being overweight was positively associated with fruit consumption for girls and negatively with physical activity for boys.

Parental behaviour and adolescents' emotional eating.

Parents can influence their children's emotional eating behaviour through modelling processes and parenting. In this study, data on parenting (support, behavioural control and psychological control), emotional eating, and demographic variables were gathered among both parents and two adolescent children of 428 Dutch families. Structural equation modelling showed positive associations between parents' emotional eating and adolescents' emotional eating. Adolescent's reports of low maternal support and of high psychological control for younger adolescents and low behavioural control for older adolescents were associated with higher emotional eating. Parents' reports of parenting were not significantly associated with adolescent's emotional eating. Multi-group analyses revealed no significant differences in associations between modelling and parenting factors on the one hand, and adolescent emotional eating on the other, by sex of the older or younger adolescent.

The effect of television viewing on adolescents' snacking: individual differences explained by external, restrained and emotional eating.

In a nationwide sample of 10,087 Dutch adolescents aged 11-16 years (M = 13.0, SD = .8), on average, 25% of the respondents watched more than three hours of television per day. Lowest levels of television viewing (TVV) were found in Dutch adolescents as compared to other ethnic groups, and in higher compared to lower educational levels. Snacking was negatively associated with physical activity and positively associated with TVV. For both boys and girls, the positive association between TVV and snacking was stronger in adolescents who scored high on external and (only for boys) emotional eating, whereas restrained eating attenuated this association.

The Stice model of overeating: tests in clinical and non-clinical samples.

The present study tested the dual pathway model of Stice [. A review of the evidence for a sociocultural model of bulimia nervosa and an exploration of the mechanisms of action. Clinical Psychology Review, 14, 633-661 and . A prospective test of the dual-pathway model of bulimic pathology: mediating effects of dieting and negative affect. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 124-135.] in a non-clinical sample of female adolescents and a clinical sample of female eating disorder patients. The model assumes that negative affect and restrained eating mediates the link between body dissatisfaction and overeating. We also tested an extended version of the model postulating that negative affect and overeating are not directly related, but indirectly through lack of interoceptive awareness and emotional eating. Structural equation modelling was used to test our models. First, in the two samples, body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness were associated with overeating/binge eating. In both clinical and adolescent sample, we found support for the negative affect pathway and not for the restraint pathway. Lack of interoceptive awareness and emotional eating appear to (partly) explain the association between negative affect and overeating. Emotional eating was much more strongly associated with overeating in the clinical than in the adolescent sample. In sum, we found substantial evidence for the negative affect pathway in the dual pathway model. The link between body dissatisfaction and overeating in this respect might be explained by the fact that negative affect, due to body dissatisfaction, is related to a lack of awareness of personal feelings and to eating when dealing with negative emotions, which on its turn is associated with overeating.