A Humanities-Based Explanation for the Effects of Emotional Eating and Perceived Stress on Food Choice Motives during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Perceived stress affects emotional eating and food choices. However, the extent to which stress associates with food choice motives is not completely understood. This study assessed whether emotional eating mediates the associations between perceived stress levels and food choice motives (i.e., health, mood, convenience, natural content, price, sensory appeal, familiarities, weight control, and ethical concerns) during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. A total of 800 respondents were surveyed in the United States in June 2020. Their perceived stress, emotional eating, and food choice motives were assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale, Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, and Food Choice Questionnaire, respectively. Moderate to high levels of perceived stress were experienced by the majority (73.6%) of respondents. Perceived stress was significantly correlated with emotional eating (r = 0.26) as well as five out of nine food choice motives: mood (r = 0.32), convenience (r = 0.28), natural content (r = −0.14), price (r = 0.27), and familiarity (r = 0.15). Emotional eating was significantly correlated with four out of nine food choice motives: mood (r = 0.27), convenience (r = 0.23), price (r = 0.16), and familiarity (r = 0.16). The mediation analyses showed that emotional eating mediates the associations between perceived stress and five food choices motives: mood, convenience, sensory appeal, price, and familiarity. Findings were interpreted using theories and concepts from the humanities, specifically, folklore studies, ritual studies, and symbolic anthropology.

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Are the Motives for Food Choices Different in Orthorexia Nervosa and Healthy Orthorexia?

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu11030697 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 697 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Julia Depa ◽

Juan Barrada ◽

María Roncero

Keyword(s):

Affect Regulation ◽

Food Choice ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Weight Control ◽

Food Choices ◽

Orthorexia Nervosa ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Main Motive ◽

Food Choice Motives ◽

Maladaptive Eating

Recent research points to the bidimensional nature of orthorexia, with one dimension related to interest in healthy eating (healthy orthorexia) and another dimension related to a pathological preoccupation with eating healthily (orthorexia nervosa). Research was needed to provide further support for this differentiation. We examined the food-choice motives related to both aspects of orthorexia. Participants were 460 students from a Spanish university who completed the Teruel Orthorexia Scale and the Food Choice Questionnaire. By means of structural equation modeling, we analyzed the relationship between orthorexia, food-choice motives, gender, body mass index, and age. The motives predicting food choices in orthorexia nervosa and healthy orthorexia were quite different. In the case of orthorexia nervosa, the main motive was weight control, with sensorial appeal and affect regulation also showing significant associations. For healthy orthorexia, the main motive was health content, with sensorial appeal and price also showing significant associations. This supports the hypothesis that orthorexia nervosa is associated with maladaptive eating behavior motived more by weight control than by health concerns.

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Trajectories of Food Choice Motives and Weight Status of Malaysian Youths during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13113752 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 3752

Author(s):

Seok Tyug Tan ◽

Chin Xuan Tan ◽

Seok Shin Tan

Keyword(s):

Food Choice ◽

Weight Control ◽

Weight Status ◽

Dietary Habits ◽

Food Choices ◽

Average Weight ◽

Percentage Increase ◽

Multinomial Regression ◽

Multinomial Regression Model ◽

Food Choice Motives

Stay-at-home orders have abruptly altered food purchasing behaviour, dietary habits, and food choice motives. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the trajectory of food choice motives and their associations with the weight status of Malaysian youths in the time of COVID-19. Socio-demographic information and anthropometric measurements were self-reported by the respondents, while the food choice motives were assessed using a validated 38-item food choice questionnaire (FCQ). Of the 1013 Malaysian youths, 48.6% gained weight due to the confinement, with an average weight gain of 3.90 ± 2.92 kg. On the other hand, 47.0% to 73.0% of the youths changed their food choice motives in the time of COVID-19. Of the 10 motives, convenience (48.5%) had the largest percentage increase, followed by weight control (47.0%) and health (45.3%). Moreover, the mean scores of health (t = −3.324, p = 0.001), convenience (t = −5.869, p < 0.001), weight control (t = −7.532, p < 0.001), natural content (t = −5.957, p < 0.001), ethical concern (t = −4.419, p < 0.001) and price (t = −3.737, p < 0.001) were significantly higher during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic. Findings from the multinomial regression model revealed that youths highly concerned for weight control were more likely to be in the weight loss category (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.633, Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.230–2.168, p = 0.001). Conversely, those who gained weight due to the pandemic confinement highly valued natural content in foods (AOR = 0.653, CI = 0.481–0.886, p = 0.006) when making their food choices in this unprecedented pandemic. In conclusion, Malaysian youths made healthier food choices to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection.

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Association between parental motives for food choice and eating patterns of 12- to 13-year-old Norwegian children

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980012004430 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. 2023-2031 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Inger M Oellingrath ◽

Margrethe Hersleth ◽

Martin V Svendsen

Keyword(s):

Food Choice ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Weight Control ◽

Linear Regression Analysis ◽

Principal Component ◽

Food Choices ◽

Eating Patterns ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Eating Pattern ◽

Food Choice Motives

AbstractObjectiveTo determine (i) the importance of parents’ motives for everyday family food choices; and (ii) the relationship between parental food choice motives and eating patterns of 12- to 13-year-old children.DesignCross-sectional study. A modified version of the Food Choice Questionnaire was used to determine parental motives for food choices. The children's food and drink intake was reported by their parents using a retrospective FFQ. Eating patterns were derived using principal component analysis. The association between food choice motives and eating patterns was examined using multiple linear regression analysis.SettingPrimary schools, Telemark County, Norway.SubjectsIn total, 1095 children aged 12–13 years and their parents.ResultsThe parental motive ‘sensory appeal’ was the most important for food choice, followed by ‘health’, ‘convenience’, ‘natural content’ and ‘weight control’. The food choice motives were associated with the eating patterns of the children, independent of background variables. The motive ‘health’ was most strongly associated with a ‘varied Norwegian’ eating pattern, representing a diverse diet and regular meals, while the motive ‘convenience’ appeared to be the most important barrier to this eating pattern. ‘Weight control’ was not associated with the ‘varied Norwegian’ eating pattern.ConclusionsTo encourage parents to make healthy food choices for their children, health promotion activities should focus on the health benefits of a diverse diet and regular meals, rather than weight control. Recommended food products should be made more convenient and easily available for families with children.

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Food Preferences and Food Choice Determinants in a Polish Adolescents’ COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13082491 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 2491

Author(s):

Dominika Głąbska ◽

Dominika Skolmowska ◽

Dominika Guzek

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Food Choice ◽

Food Preference ◽

Food Preferences ◽

Food Choices ◽

Population Based ◽

School Students ◽

High Preference ◽

Quota Sampling ◽

Food Choice Motives

Food preferences are within the most important determinants of food choices; however, little is known about their complex associations, and no studies were conducted in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to analyze the association between food preferences and food choice determinants in adolescents aged 15–20 years within the Polish Adolescents’ COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study. The PLACE-19 Study included a random quota sampling conducted in the whole of Poland and covered a population-based sample of 2448 secondary school students. The food preferences were assessed using a validated Food Preference Questionnaire (FPQ), and the food choices were assessed using a validated Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ). The statistical analysis comprised k-means clustering and linear regression adjusted for sex and age. Four homogenous clusters of respondents were defined based on the food choice motives—“healthy eaters” (health as the most important determinant of food choices), “hedonists” (convenience, sensory appeal, and price as the most important determinants), “indifferent consumers” (low significance for all determinants), and “demanding consumers” (high significance for all determinants). The preferences for all food categories differed when comparing between clusters presenting various food choice determinants (p < 0.001). The “healthy eaters” were characterized by the highest preference for vegetables; the “hedonists” preferred meat/fish, dairy, and snacks; the “demanding consumers” had a high preference for all food categories, while “indifferent consumers” had a low preference for all food categories. All preference scores were positively associated with mood, convenience, sensory appeal, natural content, and price (p < 0.05). The results confirmed the association between food preferences and food choice determinants in adolescents, as well as allowed adolescents to be clustered into segments to define various needs and motives among the identified segments. For public health purposes, it may be crucial to educate “hedonists,” with a high preference for meat/fish, dairy and snacks, accompanied by convenience, sensory appeal, and price as the most important determinants of their food choices.

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The impact of perceived stress on US millennials' external and emotional eating behavior

British Food Journal ◽

10.1108/bfj-07-2019-0490 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 123 (1) ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bendegul Okumus ◽

Ahmet Bulent Ozturk

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Eating Behavior ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

The United States ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Nutritional Knowledge ◽

Content Type ◽

External Eating ◽

The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the relationship between Millennials' perceived stress and their external and emotional eating behaviors. Furthermore, the moderating effect of nutritional knowledge on the relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating and perceived stress and external eating of US Millennials was tested.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 649 Millennials between the ages of 18 and 35 in the United States, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the study hypotheses.FindingsThis study extends the literature and provides further insights into the relationship between US Millennials' eating behavior and stress factors. Perceived stress positively influenced Millennials' emotional and external eating behavior, and nutritional knowledge significantly moderated the relationships between perceived stress and emotional eating and perceived stress and external eating.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, data was collected from Millennials living in the United States. Second, not all of the predictors, save one (perceived stress), were selected and hypothesized as predictors of Millennials' eating behavior. The paper provides the essential psychological elements of US Millennials' eating behavior.Originality/valueIf unbalanced eating and obesity are the result of negative psychological factors, the recommended diet models or physical exercise by themselves may be less effective at combating obesity and related health issues. This is because stress was found to be a highly significant reason for unbalanced eating, new and more practical stress coping strategies are needed to moderate unbalanced eating behavior.

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Intuitive Eating

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000482 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 19-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Juan Ramón Barrada ◽

Blanca Cativiela ◽

Tatjana van Strien ◽

Ausiàs Cebolla

Keyword(s):

Negative Correlation ◽

Food Choice ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

Weight Control ◽

Satisfaction With Life ◽

Intuitive Eating ◽

Control Behavior ◽

External Eating ◽

Eating Styles ◽

Physical Reasons

Abstract. Intuitive eating is defined as an adaptive way of eating that maintains a strong connection with the internal physiological signs of hunger and satiety. It has four elements: unconditional permission to eat whenever and whatever food is desired, eating for physical rather than for emotional reasons, reliance on hunger and satiety cues to determine when and how much to eat, and body-food choice congruence. In this study, we assessed the differences and similarities between intuitive eating, as measured with the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2), and eating styles (restrained, emotional, and external eating), assessed with the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Using a Spanish sample of mainly university students ( n = 1,095) we found that (a) unconditional permission to eat presented a large negative correlation with restrained eating, r = –.82; (b) eating for physical reasons had a large negative correlation with emotional eating, r = –.70; (c) the dimensions of intuitive eating only showed very small correlations with positive and negative affect, satisfaction with life, body dissatisfaction or weight control behavior after restrained, emotional, and external eating had been partialled out. Altogether, the present results suggest that two of the dimensions of intuitive eating as assessed with the IES-2 are not very new or innovative. The most promising new dimension of intuitive eating seems to be body-food choice congruence.

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Relationship between Psychosocial Impairment, Food Choice Motives, and Orthorexic Behaviors among Polish Adults

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12051218 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 1218 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marta Plichta ◽

Marzena Jezewska-Zychowicz ◽

Aleksandra Małachowska

Keyword(s):

Food Choice ◽

Regression Models ◽

Weight Control ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Psychosocial Impairment ◽

Clinical Impairment ◽

Body Weight Control ◽

Food Motives ◽

Food Choice Motives

Orthorexic behaviors correlate not only with health motives when choosing food but may also coexist with psychosocial impairment. The aim of this study was to assess the motives of food choice and psychosocial impairment among adults with orthorexic behaviors through the use of ORTO-15 and ORTO-7. The data for the study were collected from a sample of 1007 Polish adults through a cross-sectional quantitative survey conducted in 2019. The respondents were asked to complete the ORTO-15 questionnaire, the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), and the Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA). Orthorexic behaviors were measured using both the 15-item and the shorter 7-item version of the ORTO questionnaire. To determine the factors coexisting with the orthorexic behaviors, linear regression models were developed. The scores of both ORTO-15 and ORTO-7 correlated positively with the global CIA scores and the scores of personal, cognitive, and social impairments, but compared to the ORTO-7 scores, the ORTO-15 scores showed weaker correlations with the global CIA score and individual CIA scales. Orthorexic behaviors measured with ORTO-15 correlated positively with such food choice motives as health, natural content, and weight control; whereas orthorexic behaviors measured with ORTO-7 showed positive bivariate correlations only with two food choice motives: health and weight control. In regression models, sensory appeal, age, and education lower than secondary were associated inversely with orthorexic behaviors measured by both the ORTO-15 and the ORTO-7. In conclusion, the obtained results confirm that orthorexic behaviors are associated with a higher score regarding health motivation and cause an increase in psychosocial impairment. In addition, orthorexic behaviors are associated with greater importance of body weight control, which confirms the relationship between orthorexic behaviors and other eating disorders (ED), such as anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). However, similar motives for food choice displayed by the groups with higher scores of the ORTO-15 and the ORTO-7 and strong correlation between results obtained from both tools confirmed the similarity between these two questionnaires, thus revealing the weak psychometric properties also of the shorter seven-item version of the ORTO. Future studies on food motives, psychosocial impairment, and orthorexic behaviors should consider using other tools for measuring orthorexic behaviors.

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Food Choice Determinants and Perceptions of a Healthy Diet among Italian Consumers

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10020318 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 318

Author(s):

Rungsaran Wongprawmas ◽

Cristina Mora ◽

Nicoletta Pellegrini ◽

Raquel P. F. Guiné ◽

Eleonora Carini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Choice ◽

Emotional Eating ◽

Online Survey ◽

Healthy Lifestyle ◽

Food Choices ◽

Healthy Food ◽

Healthy Diet ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Information Strategies

Healthy food choices are crucial for a healthy lifestyle. However, food choices are complex and affected by various factors. Understanding the determinant factors affecting food choices could aid policy-makers in designing better strategies to promote healthy food choices in the general public. This study aims to evaluate the food choice motivations and to segment consumer groups, according to their food choice motivations, in a sample of 531 Italian consumers (collected by convenience sampling), through offline and online survey platforms. K-means cluster analysis was applied to identify consumer groups using six food choice motivation categories (health, emotional, economic and availability, social and cultural, environmental and political, and marketing and commercial). The results suggest that the strongest determinants for the food choices of Italian consumers are Environmental factors and Health. Two consumer profiles were identified through the segmentation analysis: Emotional eating and Health-driven consumers. The respondents were found to have a good awareness of what comprises a healthy diet. There is a potential market for healthy and sustainable food products, especially products with minimal or environmentally friendly packages. Food labels and information strategies could be promoted as tools to assist consumers to make healthy food choices.

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Evaluation of the Food Choice Motives before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of 1232 Adults from Croatia

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13093165 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 3165

Author(s):

Tamara Sorić ◽

Ivona Brodić ◽

Elly Mertens ◽

Diana Sagastume ◽

Ivan Dolanc ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Choice ◽

Weight Control ◽

Dietary Habits ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Ethical Concern ◽

Important Food ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Final Sample ◽

Food Choice Motives

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic brought changes to almost every segment of our lives, including dietary habits. We present one among several studies, and the first on the Croatian population, aiming at investigating changes of food choice motives before and during the pandemic. The study was performed in June 2021 as an online-based survey, using a 36-item Food Choice Questionnaire applied for both the periods before and during the pandemic. The final sample consisted of 1232 adults living in Croatia. Sensory appeal was ranked as the number one most important food choice motive before, whereas health was ranked as the number one most important food choice motive during the pandemic. Ethical concern was reported as the least important food choice motive both before and during the pandemic. In women, natural content (p = 0.002), health, convenience, price, weight control, familiarity, and ethical concern (all p < 0.001) became more important during the pandemic, while price (p = 0.009), weight control, familiarity, and ethical concern (all p < 0.001) became more relevant for men. All together, these can be considered favorable changes toward optimal diets and may result in beneficial influences on health and lifestyle. Education strategies and efficiently tackling misinformation are prerequisites for informed food choice, which will ensure long-lasting positive effects of such changes.

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Association Between Food Choices Motivators and Physical Activity in Body Image (dis)Satisfaction in Portuguese Adolescents

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.651228 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Sara Simões Dias ◽

Marlene Lages ◽

Roberta Frontini ◽

Luís Luís ◽

Maria dos Anjos Dixe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Body Image ◽

Food Choice ◽

Body Satisfaction ◽

Weight Control ◽

Body Shape ◽

Body Image Dissatisfaction ◽

Food Choices ◽

Image Perception ◽

Body Image Perception

Concerns about weight and body image are common among adolescents since they are particularly vulnerable to body-image dissatisfaction due to the normal physiological, social, and psychological changes they are going through. This study aims to analyse the relationship between food choice motivations and physical activity in body-image perception among adolescents. Twelve to sixteen years old adolescents were recruited from three school districts. The Portuguese version of the Food Choices Questionnaire (FCQ) was used to assess food choice motivators, and the Quantification de l'Activité Physique en Altitude Chez les Enfants was used to assess physical activity and to calculate daily energy expenditure (DEE). Body image perception was measured using Collins' sequence of seven silhouettes. Body image (dis)satisfaction was estimated by the present body shape minus the desired body shape. ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to compare groups, and the post-hoc Bonferroni test was used to compare target groups. A multinominal logistic regression was performed to analyse the association between gender, age, hours of sport's competition, FCQ, and body dissatisfaction. All analyses were performed in IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. The sample comprised 286 adolescents (51.4% females). Means of FCQ categories varied between 0.33 and 0.97 (range: −2 to 2). Regarding the categories of FCQ, statistically significant differences were found in the category of body satisfaction and weight control among the three groups (p = 0.004). A preventive effect was found of choosing food regarding body satisfaction and weight control, on body-image dissatisfaction.

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