Advances in the Study of Psychological Stress and Eating Behavior in Children and Adolescents

With the rapid development and change in society,children and adolescents are facing more and more psychological pressure,which comes not only from academic performance and interpersonal relationships but also from family environment,social expectations and other aspects.Psychological stress not only affects the mental health of children and adolescents but is also closely related to their eating behavior.Therefore,exploring the relationship between psychological stress and eating behaviors is of great significance in promoting the physical and mental health development of children and adolescents.Based on this,the study reviewed the research progress on the relationship between psychological stress and eating behavior of children and adolescents in recent years.The relationships between psychological stress and general eating behaviors,abnormal eating behaviors and eating disorders were successively reviewed,and the related physiological mechanisms were explored with a view to providing a scientific basis for mental health education and eating behavior intervention for children and adolescents.

A causal model of eating behaviors among Thai pregnant women working in industrial factories

Objective:This study aimed to examine the causal model of eating behaviors among pregnant women working in industrial factories.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on 210 participants,attending 4 healthcare centers,at a tertiary care hospital in Chonburi province,Thailand.Data were collected using 7 questionnaires:demographic form,eating behavior questionnaire,perceived benefits of the healthy eating questionnaire,perceived barriers to the healthy eating questionnaire,perceived self-efficacy questionnaire,social support questionnaire,and accessibility to healthy foods questionnaire.Descriptive statistics and path analysis were used for data analysis.Results:The participants had relatively high mean scores for eating behaviors.The final model fitted well with the dataχ^(2)=12.86,df=10,P=0.23;χ^(2)/df=1.29;comparative fit index(CFI)=0.98;goodness-of-fit index(GFI)=0.98;adjusted goodness-of-fit index(AGFI)=0.95;root mean square error of approximation(RMSEA)=0.04.Four factors-perceived benefits(β=0.13,P<0.05),perceived self-efficacy in healthy eating(β=0.22,P<0.001),pregnancy planning(β=0.28,P<0.001),and accessibility to healthy foods in the factory(β=0.12,P<0.05)-positively affected eating behavior,while only perceived barriers to healthy eating had a negative effect on eating behavior(β=−0.24,P<0.001).All the above factors explained 27.2%of the variance in eating behaviors.Conclusions:Nurses or healthcare providers can apply these findings to create an eating behavior modification program,focusing on pregnancy planning,behavior-specific variables,and interpersonal and situational influence,to promote the nutritional status of pregnant women working in industrial factories.

Psychological flexibility, occupational burnout and eating behavior among working women

Background: Occupational burnout is associated with diminished psychological flexibility and higher emotional (EE) and uncontrolled eating (UE). Psychological flexibility could be a mediating factor between burnout and eating behaviour. Objectives: To investigate differences in eating behaviour between those with different levels of psychological flexibility, and the association of the interaction between psychological flexibility and occupational burnout with eating behaviour. Design: The participants were working women (n = 263), who took part in the randomized controlled health intervention trial. Analyses were performed in a cross-sectional setting at baseline. Methods: Eating behaviour was measured using the Three Factor Eating Behaviour Questionnaire-18 [which evaluates EE, UE and cognitive restraint (CR)], psychological flexibility using Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II and occupational burnout using Bergen Burnout Indicator-15. Participants were divided into four groups based on the quartile points of psychological flexibility. Results: The EE of those who were inflexible was higher than that of those whose flexibility was high moderate (p = 0.013) and who were flexible (p = 0.001). The UE of those who were inflexible was higher than the UE in the other groups with higher flexibility [low moderate (p = 0.034), high moderate (p een occupational burnout and EE and UE. Multivariate analysis of variances revealed that the combination of psychological flexibility and burnout had a stronger association with the variances of EE and UE than psychological flexibility alone. Conclusions: Persons who are psychologically inflexible have higher EE and UE. Future studies should investigate if increasing psychological flexibility helps decrease EE and UE.

Behavioral Intervention Reduces Unhealthy Eating Behaviors in Preschool Children via a Behavior Card Approach

Many eating behaviors form in childhood,and some unhealthy behaviors may persist into adulthood and have potential impacts on people＇s health.This study evaluated the effectiveness of behavioral intervention in reducing consumption of Western fast food,sweetened beverages,fried food in preschool children,and changing parents＇ rewarding behaviors that encourage the consumption of the unhealthy foods.The research was a cluster randomized trial of seven kindergartens,involving 1138 children aged 3–6 years and their parents in Beijing,China.Parents and children allocated to the intervention group received two lectures and printed resources,including behavior cards,educational sheets.Children＇s behavior cards,applied with behavior-changing techniques,were used to intervene,and monitor behavior changes over time.Children in the control group just followed their usual health education curriculum in kindergartens.Intervention effects on food consumption behaviors were assessed by examining pre-and post-questionnaires.Of the 1138 children screened at baseline,880（77.3%） were measured at the end of the intervention period.The intervention lasted from March to June in 2010.The results showed that consumption of Western fast food,sweetened beverages,and fried food was decreased among the intervention group（P〈0.001）.Proportions of parents using Western fast food as rewards for their children were decreased（P=0.002）.From March to June 2010,the frequency of each target behavior in children tended to decrease over the intervention period（P〈0.001）.Most parents favored regularly-delivered behavior cards or materials for behavioral intervention.In conclusion,the behavioral intervention encourages the healthier eating behaviors of children and reduces the parents＇ practice of using unhealthy foods as reward.

Relationship among Eating Behavior, Effortful Control, and Working Memory in Female Young Adults

The management of eating behavior plays an important role in health maintenance. In this study, we investigated the relationship between eating behavior and effortful control in female young adults. Participants completed the questionnaire measures of effortful control and eating behaviors and Stroop cognitive interference task. The results showed that restrained eating was positively correlated with activation control;emotional eating was negatively correlated with inhibitory control and attentional control;external eating was negatively correlated with inhibitory, activation, and attentional control. The scores for activation control and restrained eating were higher for participants with a low Stroop error rate than for those with a high Stroop error rate. These results indicate that restrained eating has a different association with effortful control than doing emotional and external eating.

Eating Behavior of Students at the Technical University of Moldova during the Isolation Period

Appetizing peculiarities are formed from childhood and can vary throughout life. Although they are conditioned by genetic factors, over time, the internal regulation of eating behaviors is reduced, being influenced by a complex interaction of various external factors. According to the Behavioral Susceptibility (BST) Theory of Obesity, Food Sensitivity in Response to Food Stimuli (such as Food Sight and Smell) and Satiety Responsiveness (i.e. the ability to adjust diet in response to internal feelings of satiety) contribute to individual differences in terms of energy intake and weight status. The present research intended to assess the eating patterns and behavior of Moldovan students, especially those from Technical University of Moldova during the social isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted, based on the questionnaires (AEBQ—Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire), on a group of 602 students from Technical University of Moldova. Participation in the survey was entirely voluntary, did not involve any invasive procedure, nor did it induce changes in participants’ food patterns. The obtained results could contribute to the formation of the database for the study of the behavioral phenotype associated with the risk of obesity, but also for the study of eating behavior in crises. The questionnaire was distributed, in the form of a link, on the corporate emails of all TUM students. Respondents completed the questionnaire on the Google platform between 13.10.2021 - 25.11.2021, and the final database has been downloaded as a Microsoft Excel file. It was established a positive correlation between, Emotional Over-Eating and Emotional Under-Eating. Nervousness and anger were the most incriminating emotions of students that would cause both overeating and under eating. The results of the AEBQ questionnaire appear to be largely in line with previous studies, and the collected data present interest, in particular to prevent the risk of obesity.

Efect of early feeding practices and eating behaviors on body composition in primary school children

Background Understanding children’s feeding practices and eating behaviors is important to determine etiology of childhood obesity.This study aimed to explore the relationship between early feeding practices,eating behavior and body composition among primary school children.Methods The data were collected from 403 primary school children.They were administered structured questionnaire,including sociodemographic characteristics,early feeding practices and Child’s Eating Behavior Questionnaire.Anthropometric and blood pressure(BP)measurements were performed.Results Children with obesity and overweight showed higher food approach subscales and lower food avoidance subscales compared to a healthy and underweight child.Children who were exclusively or predominantly breast fed during the frst 6 months had the lowest scores for the food approach subscales,food responsiveness(FR)and emotional overeating(EOE)and had the highest scores for the food avoidance subscales,satiety responsiveness(SR)and emotional under eating(EUE).Children who were introduced solid food after 6 months showed lower scores for FR,enjoyment of food and EOE but scored highest for SR,slowness in eating(SE)and EUE.All anthropometric measurements were positively correlated with all food approach subscales and negatively with SE,SR and food fussiness.All food approach subscales were positively correlated with BP percentiles.All food avoidance subscales were negatively correlated with both BP percentiles,except for EUE,which was negatively correlated with diastolic BP percentile only.Age,SR,SE and FR were predictors for child body mass index.Conclusion Early feeding practices and eating behavior are considered as prevention approaches for obesity.

Cross-Sectional Associations of Lifestyle Behaviors with Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents

This study aimed to examine the associations between lifestyle behaviors and depressive symptoms in adolescents.Self-reported data from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey(YRBS)was analyzed.Depressive symptoms were set as the outcome variable.Movement variables(physical activity,muscle-strengthening exercise,physical education attendance,sports team participation,television watching,video or computer games,and sleep),eating behaviors(fruit intake,vegetable intake,milk intake,and eating breakfast or not),and substance use(alcohol use and cigarette use)were included as explanatory variables.Binary logistic regression was used to explore the asso-ciations between lifestyle behaviors and depressive symptoms after adjusting for sex,age,grade,race,and weight status.Of 13,677 participants who completed the investigation,girls were more than boys(50.3%vs.48.6%).The proportion of participants in grades 9,10,11,and 12 was 26.6,27.2,24.3,and 20.8,respectively.Of them,the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 36.0%(weighted%:36.7%[35.1%,38.3%]).Among all the lifestyle behaviors included,participating in no sports teams(OR=1.53[1.32,1.77]),spending more than 2 h in video or computer games(OR=1.64[1.40,1.92]),sleeping less than 8 h nightly(OR=1.79[1.45,2.20]),not eating breakfast(OR=1.56[1.37,1.78]),alcohol use(OR=1.74[1.49,2.02]),and cigarette use(OR=1.83[1.42,2.37])were associated with higher odds of depressive symptoms.To reduce depressive symptoms in adolescents,interventions can consider encouraging adolescents to engage in team sports activity,limit time for video or com-puter games,sleep enough,regularly eat breakfast,and avoid using alcohol and cigarette.Future studies are encouraged to verify our researchfindings by using a more improved study design.

Lean Healthy Children with Short Stature Have Distinct Eating Patterns

Nutrition plays an essential role in normal linear growth in children. Knowledge of the eating styles and dietary consumption of healthy short children from developed countries is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the dietary patterns in idiopathic short stature （ISS） and relatively low weight children compared to children with normal stature and weight. This research is a case-control study of 86 pre-pubertal healthy children, mean age 5.9 ± 1.5 years. The study group comprised 43 ISS children; 43 age-matched children with normal stature and weight served as controls. Outcome measures included： dietary patterns and physical activity. The absolute daily average energy, protein and carbohydrate intake was significantly lower in the ISS children （P 〈 0.05）; after correcting for body surface area, no significant differences were found between groups. Intake of micronutrients calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin C, expressed as percentage from Recommended Dietary Allowance, was significantly lower in the ISS children （P 〈 0.05）, who had lower food responsiveness, higher satiety responsiveness, lesser enjoyment of food and were slower eaters （P 〈 0.001）. Physical activity was sedentary in both the ISS cases and controls. Our findings in healthy, pre-pubertal, relatively lean ISS children point to a distinct eating pattern with no alteration in physical activity. Understanding the differences in dietary intake and eating behaviors may be beneficial in the development of targeted nutritional intervention for lean ISS children.

Umami: An Alternative Japanese Approach to Reducing Sodium While Enhancing Taste Desirability

COVID-19 has highlighted the underlying global burden from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the lack of resiliency in health systems to tackle highly preventable risk factors, which have left populations vulnerable to acute health crises. The persistent issue of unhealthy behaviors, particularly those related to a high-sodium diet, suggests inadequate policy attention and insufficient funding for public health and behavioral research. This year, Japan will host the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2021. The summit is being held in the era of COVID-19, offering a historic opportunity to make a difference on the global health agenda for food and nutrition and to reaffirm the global commitment to prevent future health crises by addressing the growing burden of NCDs and building better prepared and more resilient health systems. This perspective article suggests that we, global health researchers and decision-makers, should rethink the value of using “Umami” substances as candidates for a practical salt-reducing alternative that originated in Japan (while maintaining the affordability, accessibility, availability, and desirability of healthy food). Reduced salt intake will help address the global syndemic of COVID-19 pandemic and high rates of hypertension, heart diseases, diabetes, and other NCDs. By addressing these issues, it will make countries more resilient to future pandemic threats.

Reducing dietary sodium of dairy cows fed a low-roughages diet affect intake and feed efficiency,but not yield

Wastewater from dairy farms has become a major environmental and economical concern.Sodium residue in treated and untreated wastewater from dairy farms used for irrigation can lead to soil and groundwater salinization,with the risk of soil degradation.We examined the effect of reducing sodium fed to mid to late lactating cows from 0.61%(high sodium[HS])to 0.45%(low sodium[LS])of dry matter on dry matter intake(DMI),milk and milk-component yields,eating behavior,apparent total track digestibility,feed efficiency,and sodium excretion into the environment.We randomly assigned 28 multiparous high-yielding(>35 kg milk/d)cows to 1 of 2 treatment groups(LS or HS)in a crossover design,with 7 d of adaptation and 28 d of data collection.Reducing sodium in the diet reduced sodium intake from 171 to 123 g/d while lowering sodium excreted in the manure by 22%.Energy corrected milk(ECM)yield(37.4 kg/d)and sodium excretion in the milk(33.7 g/d)were similar for both groups.The DMI of LS cows was lower than that of HS cows(27.3 vs.28 kg/d)and consequently,feed efficiency of the LS cows was higher(1.40 vs.1.35 ECM/DMI).Eating rate,meal and visit frequency,and eating time were similar for both treatments;meal and visit duration were longer for the HS cows,and meal and visit sizes tended to be larger.Digestibility of DM and amylase-treated neutral detergent fiber remained similar.Based on the results of this study,and discussed considerations,we recommend lowering the dietary sodium content for mid to late lactating cows in commercial herds to 0.52%of DM,in order to reduce sodium excretion to the environment via urine.