Does a nature walk improve state body appreciation in children?

The available evidence suggests that exposure to natural environments promotes more positive body image, but to date this research has not considered impacts on children. To answer this question, we invited two groups of children in Poland - matched in terms of age (range = 6 to 12 years), gender identities, and racialised status - to go for a group walk in either a natural environment (n = 80) or a built environment (n = 81). Before and after the walks, participants were asked to complete an adapted, state version of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 for Children. The results of a mixed analysis of variance indicated that children who went for a walk in the natural environment reported a significant improvement to state body appreciation (d = 0.35), whereas those who went for a walk in the built environment did not (d = 0.04). The results also showed no significant impact of gender identity (girls vs. boys) or age (middle vs. late childhood) on this finding. These results show for the first time that nature exposure may help to improve body image outcomes in children, at least in the immediate term, which may prove beneficial for future interventionist work.

Body appreciation around the world: Measurement invariance of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset - with data collected between 2020 and 2022 - to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has widespread applicability. There were large differences across nations and languages in latent body appreciation, while differences across gender identities and age groups were negligible-to-small. Additionally, greater body appreciation was significantly associated with higher life satisfaction, being single (versus being married or in a committed relationship), and greater rurality (versus urbanicity). Across a subset of nations where nation-level data were available, greater body appreciation was also significantly associated with greater cultural distance from the United States and greater relative income inequality. These findings suggest that the BAS-2 likely captures a near-universal conceptualisation of the body appreciation construct, which should facilitate further cross-cultural research.

Dyadic Predictors of Willing to Engage in Physical Activity and Emotional Eating in Children and Adolescents with Mild and Moderate Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability is associated with increased risk for childhood obesity, and the factors most often associated with this risk are incorrect eating behavior and insufficient amount and intensity of physical activity. As is well known, there area whole range of factors determining lifestyle, but many currently available reports in this field refer to the functioning of children without a diagnosis of intellectual disability, and, as we know, due to numerous individual and environmental barriers, children with ID may function differently in this context than their peers. Therefore, we examined the relationships between the selected variables and divided them into two models: (1) first regression model: child's willingness to engage in physical activity (dependent variable), child's physical limitations related to disabilities and/or comorbidities, child's independence, parents' willingness to engage in physical activity, child's body dissatisfaction (independent variables/predictors); (2) second regression model: child's emotional eating (dependent variable), child's coping with emotions, parents' attitudes, beliefs, and practices about child feeding (restriction and pressure to eat), parents' emotional eating, parents' happiness (independent variables/predictors). A group of 503 parents (of children and adolescents with mild and moderate intellectual disability) completed: the Contour Drawing Rating Scale, the Child Feeding Questionnaire, the Emotional Overeating Questionnaire, the Scale of Experiencing Happiness, and the supplementary survey. Our results allow partial confirmation of the hypotheses related to both of these models: (1) model I: the relationships between the child's willingness to engage in physical activity and all predictors are significant, but the direction of the relationship between the dependent variable and one of the predictors-body dissatisfaction-is opposite to the assumed one (negative relationship); (2) model II: the relationships between the child's emotional eating and almost all predictors are significant, except for the relationship between the dependent variable and pressure to eat. In conclusion, (to the authors' knowledge) this study is the first to assess dyadic predictors of willingness to engage in physical activity and emotional eating in children and adolescents with mild and moderate intellectual disability. It allows for a better understanding of the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of children with intellectual disabilities and their parents, which gives the opportunity (taking into account factors from both individuals from the child-parent dyad) to better design strategies to support pro-health behaviors in children and adolescents from this group (which may improve the effectiveness of overweight prevention and obesity). These findings emphasize how important it is to consider the dynamic of the child-parent dyad when considering how parenting contributes to a child's willingness to engage in physical activity, as well as thatchild's emotional eating.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Disorder (ARFID), Food Neophobia, Other Eating-Related Behaviours and Feeding Practices among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and in Non-Clinical Sample: A Preliminary Study

Previous research shows that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience several difficulties-including those related to eating-and this area of research needs to be explored further. This study had two main objectives: (1) comparison of the clinical (autism spectrum disorder) and non-clinical sample of children in terms of avoidant/restrictive food disorder, food neophobia, other eating-related behaviours and feeding practices; (2) assessment of selected predictors of food neophobia. The final sample included 54 children and parents from the clinical sample (ASD) and 51 from the non-clinical sample. Parents completed: the autism spectrum rating scales (ASRS), the eating disorders in youth questionnaire (EDY-Q), the children food neophobia scale (CFNS), the child eating behaviour questionnaire (CEBQ), the child feeding questionnaire (CFQ), and a socio-demographic survey. Our analysis allowed us to partially confirm the first hypothesis since the clinical sample (vs. the non-clinical group) had significantly higher scores in such variables as (a) avoidant/restrictive food disorder (ARFID), (b) food neophobia, (c) other eating-related behaviours: emotional under-eating, desire to drink, food fussiness, (d) feeding practices: pressure to eat. Moreover, our analysis of predictors of food neophobia in the clinical and non-clinical samples also allowed us to partially confirm the second hypothesis because it turned out that only in the clinical sample (vs. the non-clinical sample) were the predictors significantly associated with food neophobia, but only two of them (food fussiness and selective eating). In conclusion, our study showed that children with ASD (compared to children without this diagnosis) experience increased difficulties in eating behaviours, and their parents present a stronger intensity of the feeding practice based on pressure to eat. This study showed that feeding problems for children in the ASD sample are a significant problem, and it is still worth exploring this area in research.

The Impact of a Woodland Walk on Body Image: A Field Experiment and an Assessment of Dispositional and Environmental Determinants

Studies have shown that nature exposure is associated with a more positive body image, but field studies remain relatively infrequent. Here, we examine the impact of a woodland walk on an index of state positive body image (i.e., state body appreciation), as well as dispositional and environmental determinants of body image improvements. Eighty-seven Polish women went for a walk in Cygański Las, an ancient woodland, and completed a measure of state body appreciation before and after the walk. As hypothesised, state body appreciation was significantly higher post-walk compared to pre-walk (d = 0.56). Additionally, we found that the trait of self-compassion-but not the traits of connectedness to nature, perceived aesthetic qualities of the woodland, or subjective restoration-was significantly associated with larger improvements in state body appreciation. These results suggest that even relatively brief exposure to nature results in elevated state body appreciation, with the dispositional trait of self-compassion being associated with larger effects.

"All Hands on Deck": Psychological Characteristics of Women with Experience of Oncological Disease Participating in Sailing Cruise-A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

In addition to searching for effective methods of treatment, interventions are sought to support well-being, quality of life, mental health, and recovery. Sailing has its specific features, including task orientation, challenges, contact with people, and nature. This specificity may be treated as a potential therapeutic factor, but it is also likely that people with certain psychological characteristics are involved in it. Therefore, the study aimed to assess some psychological features of women with cancer experience who decided to take part in the Onco-Cruise (Polish: Onko-Rejs).

METHODS

Participants were 56 women (M = 46.73; SD = 9.21). We used NEO-FFI, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, and The Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale.

RESULTS

Onco-Cruises participants were characterized by a high level of extraversion (M = 32.48; SD = 7.02; sten score M = 7.21; Mo = 7), openness (M = 31.50; SD = 6.31; sten score M = 7.41; Mo = 8), low neuroticism (M = 21.62; SD = 9.33; sten score M = 4.96), predominance of present hedonistic (M = 12.55, SD = 1.46) and future time perspective (M = 11.39; SD = 2.67), and the internal health locus of control (M = 23.25, SD = 5.43).

CONCLUSION

Group sailing can be favorable for broadly understood health and cancer recovery, but people who choose this activity have certain psychological predispositions, especially indicating high needs for stimulation. Permanent features should be taken into account when proposing various interventions for oncology patients to best suit them to their natural possibilities and preferences and, thus, make them most effective.

Eating behaviour among adults with different levels of emotional suppression and eating disorder symptomatology

Introduction

Research has shown that emotional suppression, a form of emotion regulation, is often used by individuals with disordered eating behaviour. Moreover, eating disorder symptomatology is associated with inappropriate eating behaviours (e.g. excessive consumption of high-calorie foods and comfort foods).

Objectives

The objective of the present study was to investigate the differences in eating behaviour among adults with different levels of emotional suppression and eating disorder symptomatology.

Methods

Two hundred seventy adults (M_age = 29.44 ± 9.32) completed the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (eating behaviour), the Eating Attitudes Test (eating disorder symptomatology) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (emotional suppression).

Results

Three clusters were identified through cluster analysis: cluster 1 (N = 115) presenting low emotional suppression and low eating disorder symptomatology; cluster 2 (N = 43) presenting high emotional suppression and high eating disorder symptomatology and cluster 3 (N = 112) presenting high emotional suppression and low eating disorder symptomatology. Our results showed that individuals in cluster 2 had significantly greater levels of cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating than individuals in clusters 1 and 3. Moreover, individuals in clusters 1 and 3 did not differ significantly in terms of any of the TFEQ subscales.

Conclusions

These preliminary findings may suggest that the tendency to persistently suppress emotions exacerbate disordered eating behaviour. Therefore, this factor together with symptoms of eating disorders should to be considered when planning prevention and intervention programs among adults presenting disordered eating behaviour.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Orthorexia Nervosa and its association with obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms: initial cross-cultural comparison between Polish and Italian university students

There is limited evidence of a link between Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and no definitive conclusions can be drawn. The interplay between socio-cultural context and ON has been poorly investigated as well. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were: (1) to investigate the differences in ON and OCD symptoms and (2) to assess the relationship between ON and OCD symptoms among university students. Six hundred and sixty-six university students participated in the present study: 286 from Poland and 320 from Italy. No age, gender and marital status differences were identified between two samples of university students. However, on average, Polish university students had a higher Body Mass Index than Italian ones. Our findings showed that Polish students present more problems related to obsessive symptomatology, core beliefs of OCD, perfectionism traits, and a major ON symptomatology than Italian ones. Also, Polish students with a higher level of ON exhibited higher levels of OCD symptoms and parental expectations/parental criticism. While Italian students with a higher level of ON showed higher levels of perfectionism features (organization and concern over mistakes). In general, correlations were low as confirmation of partial independence ON from OCD symptoms and core beliefs of OCD in both Polish and Italian university students. The present results highlight a need for further investigation of the correlates of ON across different cultural groups. Future research may screen individuals with ON to determine the comorbidity between ON and OCD symptomology to facilitate appropriate treatment choices. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, Opinions of respected authorities, based on descriptive studies, narrative reviews, clinical experience, or reports of expert committees.

The role of body mass index, healthy eating-related apps and educational activities on eating motives and behaviours among women during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross sectional study

The COVID-19 related lockdown made it much more difficult for people to control their eating behaviours and body weight with the methods and means they had used before. This is reflected in reports that show that eating behaviours deteriorated significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic (including in Poland). Therefore, it is important to determine what factors may be conducive to healthy eating behaviours among people with different BMI. As previous studies show, the use of healthy eating related-apps and training programs may be a protective factor against the development of unhealthy eating behaviours. Therefore, it is worth checking whether their action will be a protective factor during COVID-19. The aim of this cross sectional study was to analyse whether the current use of healthy eating-related apps and previous participation in training in this field (educational activities) as well as body mass index may play a role in eating motives and behaviours among women during COVID-19. Our final sample included 1,447 women (age: M = 31.34 ± 11.05). Participants completed: the Eating Motivation Survey, the Emotional Overeating Questionnaire, the Mindful Eating Questionnaire, socio-demographic survey and questions about healthy eating-related apps and training (educational activities). Referring to the selected significant results, our study shows that during COVID-19, the use of healthy eating-related apps alone, as well as the use of apps and prior training participation promote healthy eating motives and behaviours. It suggests that promoting the use of healthy eating applications and the acquisition of knowledge and skills in this field could be one way of shaping resources that can be effectively used to deal with crisis situations.

#childhoodobesity - A brief literature review of the role of social media in body image shaping and eating patterns among children and adolescents

Children's food preferences are closely related to their parents' food preferences and knowledge of food is linked to what their parents share with them. Parents, however, are not the only people who model such behavior. Paradoxically, the ubiquitous technological development can also pose a huge threat. In developed countries, 94% of teenagers use social media platforms such as: Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, or TikTok, and this also applies to children. It can therefore be argued that parents' nutritional preferences and behavior are related to the same behaviors of children and there is an extensive literature on this subject. It is therefore important to check how other factors - new technology (and social media in particular) - can influence changes in this area. A literature search was conducted in the following databases: Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCO in December 2021. After applying all the filters and verification of relevance in terms of the research on the topic of interest to us, 4 articles related to research on body image and social media and 4 articles related to research on food choices and social media among children and adolescents were obtained. The conducted analysis showed that various studies so far indicate that social media can have a very strong influence on the development of eating patterns and body image in children and adolescents, which in turn may be one of the risk factors for developing obesity when promoted behaviors are not associated with a healthy lifestyle. It is also worth pointing out that social media can be used as a resource in the prevention and treatment of obesity. A closer look at this topic seems to be particularly important due to the fact that, among adults, social media is not only a very important source of information about lifestyle, but also a source of social support when people attempting to lose weight. Therefore, by increasing preventive activity in social media and using modern solutions related to social media (including the use of hashtag signs), we can have a greater impact on the health awareness of children and adolescents around the world.

Do COVID-19-Related Stress, Being Overweight, and Body Dissatisfaction Contribute to More Disordered Eating in Polish Women?-A Cluster Analysis Approach

We hypothesized that women who are overweight, experiencing COVID-19-related stress, and with high body dissatisfaction would have significantly greater disordered eating than those of healthy weight, without stress, and with low body dissatisfaction. Participants (N = 1354 women; Mage= 31.89 years, SD = 11.14) filled in the Contour Drawing Rating Scale, the Emotional Overeating Questionnaire, the Eating Motivation Survey, the Mindful Eating Questionnaire, and a COVID-19-related stress measure and sociodemographic survey. The cluster analysis technique revealed four distinct clusters: (a) Cluster 1 (N = 314): healthy body weight, no COVID-related stress, and low body dissatisfaction (M = 1.19); (b) Cluster 2 (N = 131): overweight, no COVID-related stress, and high body dissatisfaction (M = 2.41); (c) Cluster 3 (N = 597): healthy body weight, COVID-related stress, and low body dissatisfaction (M = 1.27); (d) Cluster 4 (N = 312): overweight, COVID-related stress, and high body dissatisfaction (M = 2.84). Generally, our outcomes partially support our hypothesis, as higher levels of some types of disordered eating were observed in women who were overweight with COVID-related stress and high body dissatisfaction (Cluster 4) as compared with women with healthy body weight, no COVID-related stress, and with low levels of body dissatisfaction (Cluster 1). Our results indicate that both body weight status, as well as COVID-19-related stress and body dissatisfaction, may contribute to the intensity of disordered eating. During future epidemic-related quarantines, this may be an argument in favor of organizing support regarding emotional functioning, body image, and eating behaviors, particularly for the most vulnerable groups-including overweight and obese women.

The relationship between eating patterns, body image and emotional dysregulation: similarities between an excessive and normal body weight sample

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between eating patterns, body image and emotional dysregulation among individuals with excessive and normal body weight.

METHODS

A total of 298 participants completed the online survey. The following four questionnaires have been used in the present study: the Body Attitude Test, the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Mindful Eating Scale.

RESULTS

In both groups (excessive weight versus normal body weight), higher levels of body dissatisfaction have been foreseen based on the higher levels of uncontrolled eating and lower levels of mindful eating. However, among patients with overweight and obesity, the relationship between these variables was stronger and there was an additional significant predictor in the regression model (emotional eating). This model explained the body dissatisfaction variances to a larger extent (excessive body weight: 59% versus normal body weight: 49%). In addition, the mindful eating was of aparamount importance among patients with excessive body weight. The evidence of this was the significant moderating effect of mindful eating in the relationship between body dissatisfaction and restrictive eating as well as emotional dysregulation but only in an overweight and obese sample.

CONCLUSIONS

To sum up, in order to increase the effectiveness of treatment of body image disorders, abnormal eating patterns and emotional dysregulation among patients with overweight and obesity the therapeutic processes should put emphasis on mindful eating skills.

The role of emotional eating and BMI in the context of chocolate consumption and avoiding situations related to body exposure in women of normal weight

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to determine the role of emotional eating and body mass index (BMI) in the relationship between the desire to consume chocolate and avoiding social situations related to food and body exposure in women with normal weight.

METHODS

The direct effect, the indirect effect, the buffer effect, and the moderated mediation model were tested. The study involved 311 women. The mean age was 25.56 years (SD = 8.99), and the BMI was 23.19 kg/m2(SD = 1.80). The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, the Attitude to Chocolate Questionnaire and the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire were used in the study.

RESULTS

The results show that asignificant weak positive relationships exist between: (1) emotional eating and BMI, (2) emotional eating, BMI and avoiding social situations related to food and body exposure, (3) avoiding social situations and the desire to eat chocolate. However, asignificant moderate positive correlation is observed in the relationship between emotional eating and the desire to consume chocolate. The relationship between body mass index and the desire to consume chocolate is insignificant. Emotional eating is also an important complete mediator of the relationship between avoiding social situations related to food and body exposure and the desire to consume chocolate. However, it does not moderate the relationship between these variables. With reference to the moderated mediation model, BMI at the statistically significant level interacts with the avoidance of situations related to food and body exposure and the proposed model proves to be significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results prove that emotional eating is significantly associated with chocolate consumption and avoiding situations related to eating and body exposure.

Eating Motives and Other Factors Predicting Emotional Overeating during COVID-19 in a Sample of Polish Adults

We hypothesised that the higher levels of emotion-related predictors (eating motive in the form of affect regulation and COVID-19-related stress) would be associated with higher emotional overeating, after accounting for the effects of demographic variables (gender and BMI) and other eating motives (visual- and attitude-related predictors: liking, pleasure, visual appeal; body- and health-related predictors: need and hunger, health, weight control). Participants (N = 868; Mage = 33.53 years, SD = 11.98) completed: the Eating Motivation Survey, the Emotional Overeating Questionnaire, a COVID-19-related stress measure and a socio-demographic survey. The final step of the regression with emotional overeating was significant; affect regulation and COVID-19-related stress were significantly related to emotional overeating (ΔF p < 0.001, Adj. ΔR2 = 0.13). During the COVID-19 pandemic, eating can, on the one hand, help to cope with the current difficult situation and the negative emotions associated with it; on the other hand, frequent use of this tendency can lead to rigid regulation of affect and use of this mechanism as the dominant mechanism. Therefore, limited social contact, related disruptions in daily activities and stress resulting from COVID-19 should generate appropriate interventions, not necessarily focusing only on emotional eating, but also on the resources of the individual. It is worth encouraging specialists to implement alternative methods of contact with their patients, e.g., online.

COVID-19-Related Stress and Anxiety, Body Mass Index, Eating Disorder Symptomatology, and Body Image in Women from Poland: A Cluster Analysis Approach

To limit the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), many countries have introduced mandated lockdown or social distancing measures. Although these measures may be successful against COVID-19 transmission, the pandemic and attendant restrictions are a source of chronic and severe stress and anxiety which may contribute to the emergence or worsening of symptoms of eating disorders and the development of negative body image. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to: (1) classify different conditions associated with COVID-19-related stress, COVID-19-related anxiety, and weight status; and (2) analyze and compare the severity of dimensions typically related to eating disorders symptomatology and body image in individuals with different COVID-19-related stress, COVID-19-related anxiety, and weight status. Polish women (N = 671, Mage = 32.50 ± 11.38) completed measures of COVID-19-related stress and anxiety along with body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and bulimia symptomatology subscales of the Eating Disorders Inventory, and the appearance evaluation, overweight preoccupation, and body areas satisfaction subscales of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire. The following four clusters were identified through cluster analysis: (a) Cluster 1 (N = 269), healthy body weight and low COVID-related stress (M = 3.06) and anxiety (M = 2.96); (b) Cluster 2 (N = 154), healthy body weight and high COVID-related stress (M = 5.43) and anxiety (M = 5.29); (c) Cluster 3 (N = 127), excess body weight and high COVID-related stress (M = 5.23) and anxiety (M = 5.35); (d) Cluster 4 (N = 121), excess body weight and low COVID-related stress (M = 2.69) and anxiety (M = 2.83). Our results showed that Clusters 3 and 4 had significantly greater body dissatisfaction and lower appearance evaluation and body areas satisfaction than Clusters 1 and 2. Cluster 3 also had a significantly higher level of drive for thinness, bulimia, and overweight preoccupation than Clusters 1 and 2. These preliminary findings may mean that the COVID-19 pandemic and attendant anxiety and stress caused by the pandemic are exacerbating symptoms of eating disorders and negative body image, with women with excess weight particularly at risk.