The Homeostatic Theory of Obesity: An Empirical Verification of the Circle of Discontent with an Assessment of Its Relationship to Restrained and Uncontrolled Eating among Children and Adolescents

Development of the two-factor modified Kids Eating Disorder Survey (M-KEDS): a validation study with hispanic adolescents

BACKGROUND

Disordered eating behaviors and body dissatisfaction are highly prevalent among adolescents and linked to negative health outcomes. While Hispanic adolescents appear to be at high risk of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction, validated tools for assessment of these health concerns among this population are lacking.

METHODS

This study used Confirmatory Factor Analysis to establish factorial validity for the Kids Eating Disorder Survey (KEDS) among a community sample of Hispanic adolescents. Internal consistency was measured by the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20).

RESULTS

Participants (N = 690) were Hispanic (100%) and female (53%), with a mean age of 12 years. After testing the psychometric properties of KEDS and implementing modifications, the resulting two-factor KEDS model (M-KEDS) showed acceptable fit (TLI = 0.98, CFI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.06) for the Weight Dissatisfaction (renamed to Negative Weight Attitudes) and Purging/Restriction (renamed to Extreme Weight Control Behaviors) sub-scales and good internal consistency (KR-20 = 0.77).

CONCLUSION

M-KEDS is a factorial valid instrument for assessing Extreme Weight Control Behaviors and Negative Weight Attitudes among Hispanic adolescents. Hispanics are among the fastest-growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States, warranting further research on negative weight attitudes and extreme weight control behaviors in this population.

Restrained Eating and Disinhibited Eating: Association with Diet Quality and Body Weight Status Among Adolescents

Background/Objectives: Problematic eating behaviours may affect food consumption and, therefore, body weight. However, these associations have not been well understood, especially among adolescents. The aim of the study was to evaluate the associations of restrained eating and disinhibited eating with diet quality and body weight status among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1450 primary school students aged 11-13 years (52% girls). Dietary data were collected using the food frequency questionnaire (SF-FFQ4PolishChildren®). Two diet quality scores were evaluated: (i) the pro-Healthy Diet Index (pHDI), which included vegetables, fruit, dairy products, and fish, and (ii) the non-Healthy Diet Index (nHDI), which included fast food, sweets, sweetened beverages, and energy drinks. Based on the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, two eating styles were identified: restrained eating (RE) and disinhibited eating (DE). Body weight status was evaluated using the body mass index (BMI) z-score and the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). Spearman's correlation coefficient and logistic regression analysis were used to assess the association between eating styles, diet quality, and body weight status. Results: Restrained eating was negatively correlated with nHDI (r = -0.178, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with the BMI z-score (r = 0.253, p < 0.001) and WHtR (r = 0.197, p < 0.001). Disinhibited eating was positively correlated with nHDI (r = 0.232, p < 0.001). Among adolescents with different RE and DE levels, significant differences in the mean nHDI, BMI z-score, and WHtR were found. Compared to adolescents with 'low RE & DE', those with 'low RE & higher DE' were more likely to fall in the upper than bottom tertile of nHDI (odds ratio (OR) =1.90, 95% CI: 1.29-2.81). Adolescents with 'higher RE & low DE' were less likely to be underweight (OR = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.06-0.49) and more likely to be overweight (OR = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.41-2.91) and to have abdominal obesity (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.13-2.82). Conclusions: The findings suggest that both eating styles may be predictors of diet quality among adolescents. Body weight status was related to restrained eating, which seems to characterise mainly adolescents with overweight or obesity.

The Psychological Impact of the Widespread Availability of Palatable Foods Predicts Uncontrolled and Emotional Eating in Adults

This study aimed to investigate the role of the psychological impact of environments rich in palatable foods on three aspects of eating behavior: cognitive restraint (CR), uncontrolled eating (UE), and emotional eating (EE). The hypotheses were as follows: (a) The psychological impact (i.e., motivation to eat) of an environment rich in palatable foods will positively predict CR, UE, and EE; (b) dieting will predict CR, UE, and EE; and (c) CR, UE, and EE will positively predict body mass index (BMI). This study had a cross-sectional design in which data were collected online from 413 subjects. The psychological impact of food-rich environments (food available, food present, and food tasted) was assessed using the Power of Food Scale (PFS), and CR, UE, and EE were assessed using the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R18). Both instruments were tested for confirmatory factor analysis. The relationship between constructs was measured using partial least-square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). "Food available" positively predicted all TFEQ-R18 factors (p < 0.01). "Food present" positively predicted UE (p < 0.001) and EE (p = 0.01). People currently on a diet showed higher levels of CR (p < 0.001) and EE (p = 0.02). UE and EE positively predicted BMI. Thus, CR, UE, and EE were positively predicted by the motivation to consume palatable foods in varying proximity, suggesting that the presence of food and, more importantly, its general availability may be important determinants of eating behavior, particularly UE and EE. Health strategies should consider the influence of the food environment to prevent and better manage impairments in eating behavior. Sex differences suggest that special attention should be paid to women. Furthermore, dieting was associated with higher levels of EE, which in turn was associated with higher BMI. Weight loss interventions should consider this vulnerability.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Disorder (ARFID), Food Neophobia, Other Eating-Related Behaviours and Feeding Practices among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and in Non-Clinical Sample: A Preliminary Study

Previous research shows that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience several difficulties-including those related to eating-and this area of research needs to be explored further. This study had two main objectives: (1) comparison of the clinical (autism spectrum disorder) and non-clinical sample of children in terms of avoidant/restrictive food disorder, food neophobia, other eating-related behaviours and feeding practices; (2) assessment of selected predictors of food neophobia. The final sample included 54 children and parents from the clinical sample (ASD) and 51 from the non-clinical sample. Parents completed: the autism spectrum rating scales (ASRS), the eating disorders in youth questionnaire (EDY-Q), the children food neophobia scale (CFNS), the child eating behaviour questionnaire (CEBQ), the child feeding questionnaire (CFQ), and a socio-demographic survey. Our analysis allowed us to partially confirm the first hypothesis since the clinical sample (vs. the non-clinical group) had significantly higher scores in such variables as (a) avoidant/restrictive food disorder (ARFID), (b) food neophobia, (c) other eating-related behaviours: emotional under-eating, desire to drink, food fussiness, (d) feeding practices: pressure to eat. Moreover, our analysis of predictors of food neophobia in the clinical and non-clinical samples also allowed us to partially confirm the second hypothesis because it turned out that only in the clinical sample (vs. the non-clinical sample) were the predictors significantly associated with food neophobia, but only two of them (food fussiness and selective eating). In conclusion, our study showed that children with ASD (compared to children without this diagnosis) experience increased difficulties in eating behaviours, and their parents present a stronger intensity of the feeding practice based on pressure to eat. This study showed that feeding problems for children in the ASD sample are a significant problem, and it is still worth exploring this area in research.

Psychological homeostasis and protective behaviours in the Covid-19 pandemic

Since the first case of human SARS-CoV-2 infection late in 2019 workers across multiple disciplines have been strenuously engaged in attempting to prevent the spread of the virus and to provide care to patients. Never in history has so much human effort been concentrated on a single health trauma. Much of the new research is empirical in nature with relatively few strands of theory. This article focuses on two recent theories relevant to COVID-19 protective behaviours, the COM-B and the General Theory of Behaviour. New empirical findings on the means, motives and opportunities for COVID-19 protective behaviours improve our knowledge and capacity to cope with pandemics using psychological homeostasis.

#childhoodobesity - A brief literature review of the role of social media in body image shaping and eating patterns among children and adolescents

Children's food preferences are closely related to their parents' food preferences and knowledge of food is linked to what their parents share with them. Parents, however, are not the only people who model such behavior. Paradoxically, the ubiquitous technological development can also pose a huge threat. In developed countries, 94% of teenagers use social media platforms such as: Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, or TikTok, and this also applies to children. It can therefore be argued that parents' nutritional preferences and behavior are related to the same behaviors of children and there is an extensive literature on this subject. It is therefore important to check how other factors - new technology (and social media in particular) - can influence changes in this area. A literature search was conducted in the following databases: Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCO in December 2021. After applying all the filters and verification of relevance in terms of the research on the topic of interest to us, 4 articles related to research on body image and social media and 4 articles related to research on food choices and social media among children and adolescents were obtained. The conducted analysis showed that various studies so far indicate that social media can have a very strong influence on the development of eating patterns and body image in children and adolescents, which in turn may be one of the risk factors for developing obesity when promoted behaviors are not associated with a healthy lifestyle. It is also worth pointing out that social media can be used as a resource in the prevention and treatment of obesity. A closer look at this topic seems to be particularly important due to the fact that, among adults, social media is not only a very important source of information about lifestyle, but also a source of social support when people attempting to lose weight. Therefore, by increasing preventive activity in social media and using modern solutions related to social media (including the use of hashtag signs), we can have a greater impact on the health awareness of children and adolescents around the world.