Convenience food products. Drivers for consumption

Delay discounting and intake of ready-to-eat and away-from-home foods in overweight and obese women

A shift from home-prepared to away-from-home and ready-to-eat foods has occurred in recent decades, which has implications for obesity and health. This study tested whether delay discounting, a facet of impulsivity reflecting sensitivity to immediate reward, is associated with the frequency of consumption and typical amount consumed of home-prepared, away-from-home, and ready-to-eat foods among overweight and obese women. Seventy-eight participants completed a binary choice task assessing discounting of delayed monetary rewards. Nutrient analysis of weighed food records characterized dietary intake over seven consecutive days. Foods were categorized as home-prepared, away-from-home, or ready-to-eat by a registered dietitian from information provided by participants. Delay discounting was not associated with the frequency of consuming home-prepared, away-from-home, and ready-to-eat foods as reflected in the percentages of recorded foods or total energy intake from each category. However, once consuming away-from-home and ready-to-eat foods (but not home-prepared foods), impulsive women consumed more energy than less impulsive women. Exploratory analyses indicated that more impulsive women chose away-from-home foods with a higher energy density (kcal/g). Impulsivity was associated with the quantity of away-from-home and ready-to-eat foods consumed, but not the frequency of their consumption. Home food preparation may be critical to weight control for impulsive individuals.

Overcoming picky eating. Eating enjoyment as a central aspect of children's eating behaviors

Picky eating is a relatively common problem during childhood, and parents lack clear strategies with which to decrease picky eating. This study examined whether increasing eating enjoyment and cooking enjoyment might give opportunities to decrease picky eating. Parents (n=305), mainly mothers with children between 6 and 12 years of age (53.8% boys; 46.2% girls), completed a questionnaire on pressure and restriction, eating enjoyment, and picky eating, and cooking enjoyment. Path analyses were performed to examine the mediating role of eating enjoyment. The final model provided a good fit to the data and explained 33% variance in picky eating. A strong inverse association between eating enjoyment and picky eating was found (β=-.44). Significant direct effects were found between cooking enjoyment and picky eating (β=-.16) and restriction and picky eating (β=.18). Eating enjoyment partly mediated the association between cooking enjoyment and picky eating. Results showed pressure had only an indirect effect on picky eating through eating enjoyment. Eating enjoyment serves as an important and central factor in children's picky-eating behavior. High controlling practices might create a negative environment around food and healthy eating and so decrease eating enjoyment and increase picky eating.