scholarly journals Is Adolescents’ Food Intake Associated with Exposure to the Food Intake of Their Mothers and Best Friends?

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 786
Author(s):  
Nina van den Broek ◽  
Junilla. K. Larsen ◽  
Maaike Verhagen ◽  
William J. Burk ◽  
Jacqueline M. Vink

Both mothers’ and best friends’ food intake are associated with adolescents’ food intake, but they are rarely investigated simultaneously. In this study, we tested the associations of mothers’ and best friends’ food intake with adolescents’ intake of unhealthy and healthy food, obtained from home and from outside the home, and the moderating role of adolescents’ exposure to their food intake. Participants included 667 adolescents (53% female, Mage = 12.9) and 396 of their mothers. Within this adolescent sample, 378 best friend dyads were identified. All participants completed food frequency questionnaires. Mothers separately reported on their food intake in the presence and absence of their child, and adolescents indicated how often they ate and drank together with their best friend during school breaks. Mothers’, but not best friends’, food intake was positively related to adolescents’ intake of unhealthy and healthy food obtained from home and healthy food obtained from outside the home. Exposure to mothers’ healthy food intake magnified mother-child similarities in healthy food intake. Exposure to best friends’ intake of unhealthy food moderated adolescent-friend similarities in unhealthy food intake. Future work should assess the mechanisms that underlie these similarities, and should investigate these associations over time and in later developmental periods.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Jane Speed ◽  
Esther K. Papies ◽  
Asifa Majid

Concepts are grounded in sensorimotor simulations, but what role these simulations play in everyday cognition is unknown. We investigate one domain where the senses are especially important: food. Unhealthy food is typically considered tastier than healthy food, and is therefore more attractive. We explored to what extent sensory associations differ between healthy and unhealthy foods, and whether these differences affect food attractiveness. In Study 1, using existing sensorimotor norms (Lynott, Connell, Brysbaert, Brand, & Carney, 2020) we found that unhealthy food is more strongly associated with taste, smell, and interoception than healthy food. Furthermore, these enhanced sensory associations mediated the relationship between healthiness and attractiveness. In Study 2, when participants were presented only with food words, unhealthy foods were more strongly associated with all perceptual modalities than healthy food. Again, this association mediated the relationship between healthiness and attractiveness: unhealthy food is more attractive because it is more strongly associated with sensory experience. We also found that the role of sensory associations in food attractiveness is affected by context. When participants were instructed to imagine eating the food, mediation by perceptual strength was weaker compared to receiving no instruction. Our results suggest that sensory simulation explains why unhealthy food is more attractive than healthy food, implying sensory simulation has a role in goal-directed behavior.


Appetite ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 562
Author(s):  
P. Lattimore ◽  
A. Roefs ◽  
A. Jansen ◽  
A.-K Fett ◽  
N. Geschwind ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 499-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongqin Yu ◽  
Susan Branje ◽  
Loes Keijsers ◽  
Hans M. Koot ◽  
Wim Meeus

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 306
Author(s):  
Mazneen Havewala ◽  
Julie C. Bowker ◽  
Kelly A. Smith ◽  
Linda Rose-Krasnor ◽  
Cathryn Booth-LaForce ◽  
...  

Although many studies show that peers influence the development of adolescent internalizing and externalizing difficulties, few have considered both internalizing and externalizing difficulties in the same study, and fewer have considered the contributions of parents. Using a longitudinal sample of 385 adolescents, the contributions of best friends’ internalizing and externalizing difficulties (as assessed in Grade 6; G6: Mage = 13.64 years; 53% female; 40% ethnic or racial minority) were examined as they predicted subsequent adolescent internalizing and externalizing difficulties (at G8); in addition, the moderating role of both maternal and paternal support (at G6) was explored. Structural equation modelling revealed that best friend internalizing difficulties predicted decreases, but that best friend externalizing difficulties predicted increases in adolescents’ externalizing difficulties over time. Significant interactions involving both maternal and paternal support revealed that the negative impact of a G6 best friend having internalizing problems on later G8 adolescent externalizing problems was stronger at low levels of maternal and paternal support. The findings highlight the complex, and interactive, influences of friends and parents on the development of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology during adolescence, and underscore the importance of targeting both sources of social influence in research and clinical work.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Lin Li ◽  
Mark J. Taylor ◽  
Katarina Bälter ◽  
Tian Xie ◽  
Berit Skretting Solberg ◽  
...  

Background: Dietary habits were investigated as environmental risk factors for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, no previous studies explored the effects of dietary factors on modifying the role of genetic factors on ADHD. Methods: Based on a Swedish population-based twin study with 1518 twin pairs aged 20–47 years, we tested whether the importance of genetic and environmental effects on ADHD varied as a function of dietary habits. Self-reported dietary habits and ADHD symptoms were collected. Twin methods were used to test the degree to which high-sugar and unhealthy food intake moderated the genetic and environmental influences on ADHD symptoms. Results: In middle-aged adults, genetic influences on inattention symptoms were statistically significantly higher among individuals with higher levels of high-sugar (45%, 95%CI: 25–54%) and unhealthy food intake (51%, 95%CI: 31–60%), compared with those with lower levels of consumption of high-sugar (36%, 95%CI: 25–47%) and unhealthy foods (30%, 95%CI: 20–41%). Similar patterns were also found for the associations between hyperactivity/impulsivity and high-sugar/unhealthy food intake, even though the moderation effects were not statistically significant. Conclusion The present study suggests that genetic factors play a more prominent role in individual differences of ADHD symptoms in the presence of the high consumption of sugar and unhealthy foods. Future longitudinal studies with multiple assessments of ADHD and dietary habits are needed to replicate our findings.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Therése Skoog ◽  
Sabina Kapetanovic

Abstract The links between sexual harassment victimization and aspects of psychopathology are well-established in adolescent research, but whether sexual harassment victimization undermines positive aspects of psychological health and the moderating role of relational support in the link between sexual harassment victimization and psychological ill-health remains unknown. Using a cross-lagged model, we examined (a) the bidirectional and longitudinal links between sexual harassment victimization and adolescent psychological health (emotional problems and well-being) and (b) the moderating role of relational support from parents, teachers, and peers (best friends and classmates) in the link between sexual harassment victimization and adolescent psychological health. We used two waves of self-reported data (separated by 1 year) from 676 Swedish adolescents (50% female; mean age = 13.85 years at the point of first data collection). Controlling for the effects of gender and subjective socioeconomic status, the cross-lagged model revealed that sexual harassment predicted emotional problems positively and well-being negatively. Moreover, well-being predicted sexual harassment negatively. Relational support from classmates moderated the link in the direction from sexual harassment victimization to emotional problems. Relational support did not moderate the link to well-being. The findings provide new and important insights into the role of sexual harassment victimization in adolescent psychological adjustment and potential approaches to intervention.


Appetite ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 114-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnd Florack ◽  
Johanna Palcu ◽  
Malte Friese

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