Although research describing relationships between psychosocial factors and various eating patterns is growing, a model which explains the mechanisms through which these factors may operate is lacking. A model to explain overeating patterns among normal weight college females was developed and tested. The model contained the following variables: global adjustment, eating and weight cognitions, emotional eating, and self-efficacy. Three hundred ninety-one participants completed the following self-report indices: the Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-Revised, the Student Adaptation College Questionnaire, the Weight Efficacy Life-Style Questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiological Studies on Depression, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, the Emotional Eating Scale, the COPE, the Dutch Eating Behaviors Questionnaire - Restraint Scale, and a self-reported frequency of current eating patterns. Forty participants were excluded based on responses suggestive of obesity (BMI>27.3), severe dietary restraint, or bulimia nervosa, resulting in a final sample of 351. Correlational matrices, factor analysis and structural equation modeling with LISREL 8.B were progressively used to develop the best measurement model and assess the goodness of fit of the proposed structural model. The model provided an excellent fit to the data (GFI=.95; AGFI = .92; RMSEA = .048) and explained as large amount of the observed variance in overeating patterns among normal weight college females (R² = .78). An alternative model, which included dietary restraint as a predictor variable was also tested and compared to the proposed structural model. On all indices of model fit and model parsimony, the proposed model without dietary restraint appeared superior. Moreover, dietary restraint was not a significant direct contributor to the explanation of overeating patterns among normal weight college females. In the final structural model, all variables had a significant direct effect on eating patterns (p < .01). Further examination revealed a large total effect of adjustment as well as a strong direct influence of emotional eating on overeating patterns (direct effect =.52, p <.001). Because emotional eating captures the extent to which negative emotions produce an urge to eat, treatment and prevention programs should specifically target acquisition and practice of alternative coping strategies for dealing with negative emotions. / Ph. D.

Children's physical inactivity and poor eating patterns have received a great deal of attention in our country and worldwide. Studies have been conducted to identify determinates related to children's physical activity and eating patterns and to identify strategies for promoting positive behaviors. Parental support is a well-accepted determinate of children's physical activity and eating patterns. However, little qualitative research has been done to determine parental attitudes and perceptions related to this critical role. First, the study sought to gain a greater understanding of parental perspectives on their children's physical activity and eating patterns. Second, the study examined parental attitudes and perceptions of their own personal roles related to their children's physical activity and eating patterns and the possible role of others. Focus groups were conducted with parents who had a child or children in kndergarten through sixth grade in the Madison School District in Rexburg, Idaho. Grounded theory was used to analyze findings. The results of the study indicated common elements of parental perceptions of physical activity and positive eating patterns in children. These elements were the same for supportive networks, supportive environments, and individual factors. Of these elements, most participants felt that their role as a parent was the most critical. Although knowing how critical their involvement was, participants continually brought up concerns and barriers associated with their role. The most common concerns addressed by parents were the significant impact of not having enough time and busyness of family schedules. Findings indicated that these elements should be considered and researched when conducting a needs assessment and planning interventions designed to increase physical activity and improve eating patterns in children. Findings also indicated that parents should play an extremely important role when collecting needs assessment data related to the physical activity and eating patterns of children. Interventions aimed at improving the health of children should be family focused and include strategies for incorporating positive changes into households and must address the demands of families' schedules. Effective health education strategies may also include facilitating parental involvement in community and school advocacy related to their perceived need for changes.

Following rapid economic growth in the 1980s and subsequent rising urbanization in the 1990s, urban centers of India have undergone a “nutrition and lifestyle transformation” regarding dietary choices, cooking methods, food accessibility, and average daily activity level. These changes have been pivotal in the increasing prevalence of obesity and lifestyle–related diseases for Indian adults. With an estimated 71.4 million people living with diabetes, India represents the largest diabetes population worldwide—and numbers are expected to continue growing. These health conditions are not affecting all populations of India; they are affecting the urban middle and upper classes. This thesis will examine the contributing causes behind shifts in food distribution, marketing and consumption in urban parts of India and how the diets and lifestyles of the middle and upper classes have changed, or reacted to such changes, as a result. It will analyze changing patterns of food consumption, as well as corresponding topics, such as lifestyle shifts and emerging health concerns that have developed as a result of rapid urbanization and globalization. My research will primarily focus on how these issues have impacted women. Women, in their roles as wives and mothers, largely control the domestic sphere, central to which is food; thus, they are the primary determiners of their respective “household nutritional status,” as they are responsible for providing food for, as well as shaping the dietary choices of, their husbands and children. I also argue that recent processes of globalization have transformed the food consumption culture of India’s urban middle and upper classes. Following the liberalization of India’s economy in 1991 that resulted in the global integration of international food trade, India’s urban female populations are not only reconsidering what they eat, but when, where, and how they eat. Now, they are facing the repercussions of the food choices and corresponding lifestyle changes that they have made irrespective of the increasing health problems and associated risks. Consequently, India’s urban youth has also begun to reevaluate their consumption habits as a result of globalization processes catalyzed by India’s economic liberalization. These changes in consumption habits have resulted in the emergence of a distinct “youth culture,” in which India’s younger generations are challenging traditional practices and attitudes that older generations have made regarding food and lifestyle choices, with the influence of media at the forefront. India has undergone a nutrition transition, but at what cost to consumer health and well–being, specifically affluent? This thesis will examine how globalization has led to an emerging consumer, specifically affluent urban females significantly impacted by both the introduction of new technologies and the process of globalization that is affecting cultures around the world.

abstract: ABSTRACT Background. College students’ modifiable health behaviors, including unhealthful eating patterns, predispose them to risk for future cardiometabolic conditions. Purpose. This novel 8-week randomized control parallel-arm study compared the effects of a daily 18-hour Time-Restricted Feeding protocol vs. an 8-hour fast on diet quality in college students. Secondary outcomes were resting morning blood pressure, biomarkers of glucose regulation, biomarkers of lipid metabolism, and anthropometric measures. Methods. Eighteen healthy college students (age = 23 ± 4 years; BMI = 23.2 ± 2.3 kg/m2; MET = 58.8 ± 32.9 min/wk) completed this study. Participants were randomized to a daily 18-hour fasting protocol (Intervention; n = 8) or a daily 8-hour fasting protocol (Control; n = 10) for eight weeks. One ‘cheat’ day was permitted each week. Outcomes were measured at weeks 0 (baseline), 4, and 8. A non-parametric Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the week 4 change from baseline between groups. Statistical significance was set at p≤0.05. Results. Diet quality (p = 0.030) and body weight (p = 0.016) improved from baseline to week 4 for the INV group in comparison to the CON group. The data suggest these improvements may be related to reductions in snacking frequency and increased breakfast consumption. Fasting blood glucose and hip circumference tended to improve for the INV group in comparison to the CON group (p = 0.091 and p = 0.100). However, saturated fat intake tended to increase in the INV group in comparison to the CON group (p = 0.064). Finally, there were no treatment differences between groups (p>0.05) for the 4-week change in total calories, dietary vitamin C, added sugars, resting systolic blood pressure, resting diastolic blood pressure, insulin, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, waist circumference, or MET. Conclusion. These data, although preliminary, suggest that the 18-hour fasting protocol was effective for improving diet quality and reducing weight in comparison to the 8-hour fasting protocol in healthy college students. Future intervention trials will need to confirm these findings and determine the long-term relevance of these improvements for health outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Nutrition 2020

In this study the food habits of schoolchildren aged 11-15 years in three primary schools in Manzini, Swaziland were described and explored. Their eating patterns and the composition of their meals during the week and over weekends, together with their familiarity, consumption and preference rating of selected traditional foods were established. The school meal programme and other aspects of the school food environment were also included as part of the study. As there is limited information on the food habits of Swazi people in general, and no recent information available on the food habits of Swaziland’s primary schoolchildren, this study has contributed to filling a gap in the literature. Studies done in other sub-Saharan African countries on the food habits of schoolchildren have reported changes in their dietary intake due to migration, urbanisation, modernisation and Westernisation, processes also found in this country’s history. This explorative and descriptive cross-sectional study is deductive in nature and followed a quantitative research design. A self-administered, pre-tested survey questionnaire consisting of closed and open-ended questions was developed and completed by 300 Grade 5, 6 and 7 primary schoolchildren to determine their eating and consumption patterns. The results reflect a change in daily meal patterns from the traditional two meals to the Western-orientated eating pattern of three meals a day with in-between-meal snacking. In-between meal snacking was more common during the week than over weekends. For the majority of the respondents breakfast consisted of either bread or a soft porridge prepared from sorghum or maize meal and tea. Lunch and supper meals were markedly predominantly stiff maize meal porridge served with a legume dish, meat stew or a vegetable relish. Rice is increasingly being eaten for lunch (25%) and supper (35%). Both healthy and unhealthy food and beverage choices were consumed as in-between-meal snacks. This, together with the reported low vegetable, fruit and milk consumption by the majority, is a matter of concern. Most of the selected traditional foods and dishes listed were familiar and consumed by the majority of the respondents. Although some traditional foods and dishes received a low preference rating, the children preferred most of those listed with the exception, as could be expected, of the bitter tasting green leafy vegetables. Concerning the school food environment, results revealed that the majority brought money to purchase food items from vendors during break-times. With the exception of fruit and fruit juice, most of the food items for sale were products with a high fat, sugar or sodium content. Most of the respondents participated in the school meal programme. Although the schoolchildren were satisfied with the meals served, they could not be regarded as nutritionally adequate. This study not only provided empirical data on the food habits of this group of Swazi schoolchildren, but also gave valuable insights into the school food environment. The important role of the school environment in promoting healthy eating was once again confirmed. Based on the findings of this study recommendations and guidelines to promote healthy eating in Swaziland’s primary schools were formulated. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Consumer Science / MConsumer Science / Unrestricted

Morbid obesity, defined by having a BMI of 40 or greater, has gained increasing attention. Despite a greater number of bariatric surgery cases for the treatment of obesity, research has demonstrated concerning results for patients, particularly involving weight regain and the development of mental illness. Patients seeking bariatric surgery are often required to complete a psychological evaluation to determine readiness for the procedure and associated post-operative lifestyle changes. However, research suggests mixed results in determining predictors for post-surgical success. Few studies have looked at emotionality and eating patterns in bariatric surgery seeking patients, though emotional eating is often talked about in the literature. It is likely that emotional eating and problematic patterns of emotional regulation that may contribute to obesity carry implications for post-surgical mental health and weight loss maintenance. In the current study, 30 bariatric surgery-seeking patients have thus far completed the Dutch Eating Behaviors Questionnaire and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Preliminary data suggest a significant relationship between emotional eating patterns and a difficulty in emotion regulation (r= .397, p = .049). Trends toward significance were also discovered between difficulties in emotion regulation and restricted and external eating patterns (restrained, r = -.356, p = .081; external, r = .330, p = .099). This preliminary data is part of a larger study on emotion and eating patterns in bariatric surgery seeking patients, and additional data will help us better understand these relationships. Results may have implications for intervention regarding emotional dysregulation prior to and following bariatric surgery.

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties with communication, problems with social interactions, and repetitive patterns. A greater proportion of children with ASD tend to experience nutritional difficulties and feeding issues compared to neurotypical (NT) children; however, limited research has been examined that compares nutritional behaviors between children with ASD and NT youth. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in gastrointestinal issues, weight concerns, and mealtime behaviors in youth with ASD and NT youth. Data was utilized from the 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health which consisted of items related to children’s health and well-being. Parent-reported variables on dietary behaviors, child weight concerns, mealtime behaviors, and food insecurity were compared between children with ASD and NT youth using chi-square analyses. Results: A total of 868 (weighted sample of 2,068,404) children with ASD and 28,441 (weighted sample of 72,451,623) NT children were included in the analysis. A greater percentage of parents of children with ASD reported weight-related concerns about their child (pp=0.57). Conclusion: Children with ASD experience more nutrition-related difficulties than NT youth although there were no differences in family mealtime patterns. Future research should examine food insecurity in families of children with ASD and its relationship with nutritional difficulties in this population.

No description available.

<p>Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and determinants of obesity amongst NAMDEB employees working at Pocket Beaches diamond mine.</p>

<p>Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and determinants of obesity amongst NAMDEB employees working at Pocket Beaches diamond mine.</p>