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Bui C, Lin LY, Wu CY, Chiu YW, Chiou HY. Association between Emotional Eating and Frequency of Unhealthy Food Consumption among Taiwanese Adolescents. Nutrients 2021; 13:2739. [PMID: 34444899 PMCID: PMC8401002 DOI: 10.3390/nu13082739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotional eating is one factor that increases the consumption of unhealthy food. This study aimed to investigate the association between emotional eating and frequencies of consuming fast food, high-fat snacks, processed meat products, dessert foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in adolescents. The baseline survey data (2015) from the Taiwan Adolescent to Adult Longitudinal Study (TAALS) were fitted into multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for sex, school type, Body Mass Index (BMI), eating while doing something, nutrition label reading, skipping breakfast, smoking, binge drinking, sedentary lifestyle, physical activity, peer and school support, and parental education level. Among the 18,461 participants (48.5% male and 51.5% female), those exhibiting emotional eating were more likely to consume fast food (Odds ratio (OR) = 2.40, 95% Confidence interval (CI): 2.18-2.64), high-fat snacks (OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 2.12-2.49), processed meat products (OR = 1.92, 95% CI: 1.78-2.08), dessert foods (OR = 2.49, 95% CI: 2.31-2.69), and sugar-sweetened beverages (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.70-1.98). Factors that were positively associated with unhealthy food consumption included eating while doing other activities, binge drinking, smoking, and sedentary lifestyle. Among all the covariates, nutrition label reading was the only factor that was inversely associated with frequent unhealthy food consumption. Sex and school type may moderate the effect of emotional eating on the frequent consumption of specific unhealthy food groups. In conclusion, adolescents with high emotional eating were more likely to report frequent consumption of unhealthy foods in Taiwan. Our findings showed that male participants appeared to consume fast foods, high-fat snacks, processed meat, and SSBs more often and dessert foods less often than females. Future longitudinal studies are recommended for understanding the causal relationship between emotional eating and unhealthy food consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chung Bui
- Ph.D. Program in Global Health and Health Security, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei City 110, Taiwan;
- Department of Health Communication and Education, Quang Ninh Provincial Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Vietnam, 651 Le Thanh Tong St., Bach Dang Ward, Ha Long 01108, Vietnam
| | - Li-Yin Lin
- Master Program in Applied Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei City 110, Taiwan;
- School of Public Health, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei City 110, Taiwan
- Department of Leisure Industry and Health Promotion, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, 365 Mingde Road, Beitou District, Taipei 11219, Taiwan
| | - Chih-Yi Wu
- Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan Town, Miaoli County 35053, Taiwan;
| | - Ya-Wen Chiu
- Ph.D. Program in Global Health and Health Security, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei City 110, Taiwan;
- Master Program in Global Health and Development, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei City 110, Taiwan
| | - Hung-Yi Chiou
- School of Public Health, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wuxing St., Taipei City 110, Taiwan
- Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan Town, Miaoli County 35053, Taiwan;
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