Search Results (36)

Background: Childhood obesity is a persistent global health challenge, often rooted in early-life dietary patterns shaped within the home environment. Objective: To investigate the association between parents’ culinary skills, children’s eating behavior, and the degree of child involvement in family culinary practices. Methods: A cross-sectional, analytical study. In the public and private schools in southern Brazil. A total of 205 families with children aged 3 to 13 years participated. Parents or caregivers answered a structured questionnaire on culinary skills and sociodemographic variables. Children’s eating behavior was assessed through the validated Brazilian version of the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ). Student’s T test was used to compare means, and Pearson’s chi-square or Fisher’s exact test to compare proportions. Multivariate linear regression was applied to control for potential confounders. Analyses were conducted using SPSS version 27.0 and R software. Results: Most parents (90.7%) reported cooking regularly, and 65.9% involved children in cooking activities. The predominant culinary profile (40%) was classified as “convenience cooking,” marked by frequent use of processed ingredients. Healthier parental cooking practices were positively associated with adaptive eating behaviors in children, reflected by lower food fussiness, satiety responsiveness, food responsiveness and food refusal scores and higher enjoyment of food scores domains of the CEBQ. Conclusions: Despite the high prevalence of routine cooking, convenience-oriented practices remain dominant, reflecting broader sociocultural patterns. Engagement in healthier cooking practices was positively associated with more favorable eating behaviors in children. These findings underscore the importance of promoting culinary education and parental involvement in cooking as strategies to support healthy childhood eating behaviors. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic stressors have profoundly reshaped consumer eating behaviors, presenting an urgent and underexplored challenge for the academic community. This interdisciplinary review critically examines how these disruptions have influenced both food approach and food avoidance patterns, offering a structured analysis of eight key behavioral parameters: Hunger (H), Food Responsiveness (FR), Emotional Overeating (EOE), Enjoyment of Food (EF), Satiety Responsiveness (SR), Emotional Under Eating (EUE), Food Fussiness (FF), and Slowness in Eating (SE). Drawing on recent literature, we highlight significant shifts in these traits—such as heightened hedonic hunger, age-related changes in food preferences, and gender-specific emotional-satiety dynamics—underscoring the complex interplay between emotional states, physiological cues, and behavioral tendencies. Grounded in the systematic examination of peer-reviewed studies in the post-COVID period, this review offers a robust and comprehensive synthesis of current evidence. The novelty of this work lies in its integration of findings into targeted proposition statements for each parameter, visually supported by original flow charts. These culminate in the development of a “Consumers’ Eating Behavior Index”—a conceptual tool designed to guide researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers in understanding and responding to post-pandemic dietary transformations. By emphasizing the emotional and psychological dimensions of eating, this index offers a timely framework for designing tailored public health interventions that promote sustainable nutritional habits. This study calls for renewed academic attention to the behavioral consequences of global crises, positioning eating behavior research as a critical frontier in post-COVID recovery and resilience. Full article

Background/Objectives: Appetitive traits may contribute to early feeding challenges by shaping children’s emerging dietary patterns. While food approach traits have been linked to excess weight, their role in influencing food type and quality during toddlerhood remains underexplored. This study aimed to examine associations between appetitive traits and dietary patterns in children aged 12 to 36 months. Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data from a university hospital and the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Mexico. A survey was conducted through direct interviews with primary caregivers, which included the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire for Toddlers (CEBQ-T) and a qualitative food group frequency questionnaire. Dietary patterns were determined using principal component analysis. Statistical analyses were performed to identify associations between six appetitive traits and dietary patterns. Results: Three dietary patterns were identified: “Processed”, “Healthy” and “Dietary Transition/Modern Mexican”. Higher scores for Food Responsiveness and Emotional Overeating traits were associated with greater adherence to the Processed dietary pattern. Increased scores in Enjoyment of Food were associated with higher adherence to a Healthy dietary pattern. Children with higher scores in Food Fussiness exhibited lower adherence to the Healthy dietary pattern and were more likely to follow a Dietary Transition/Modern Mexican pattern. Between 12 and 36 months of age, appetitive traits may influence the development of more or less healthy dietary patterns. Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of early identification of appetite-related behavioral tendencies as part of a broader understanding of feeding challenges in early childhood. Full article

Background: Analyses based on a dual-processing approach can contribute to a better understanding of the processes involved in food fussiness in children. This approach combines reactive or automatic avoidance responses together with regulatory processes, such as inhibitory control. Previous research has mainly focused on the avoidance response rather than both avoidance and regulatory control. Objective: The main purpose of the research was to investigate possible processes associated with food fussiness in children older than early childhood and into middle childhood (here, 5-to-12-year-olds) based on a dual-processing approach. Methods: The food fussiness subscale of the Children’s Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the impulsivity, fear, shyness and inhibitory control subscales of the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) were used. Multivariable regression examined bottom–up/top–down temperament measures as components of the food fussiness process, with the main effects and interactions. ANOVA examined differences in the temperament measures for non-fussy, moderately fussy and severely fussy children. Results: The regression analysis showed that higher food fussiness was associated with lower impulsivity and lower inhibitory control. There also was a significant interaction between impulsivity and inhibitory control, suggesting that higher food fussiness for some children was associated with a combination of low impulsivity (more behavioral inhibition) and low inhibitory control. Conclusions: The results suggest that an analysis of food fussiness in terms of higher bottom–up avoidance in tandem with lower top–down inhibitory control is a helpful approach to the interpretation of the core processes involved in food fussiness in children. A better understanding of the fussiness processes can guide approaches to preventive interventions, including for parents of children with food fussiness. Full article

Background: Eating behavior problems significantly affect the physical health and quality of life of children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities (co-occurring ASD/ID). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a 12-week Ball Combination Training Program (BCTP), continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS), and an intervention combining both (in the CIG) on the eating behaviors of children with co-occurring ASD/ID. Methods: A total of 48 participants were assigned into one of four groups: the BCTP (n = 13), cTBS (n = 12), the CIG (n = 11), and a control group (n = 12). The intervention groups received their respective treatments in addition to the routine institutional rehabilitation, whereas the control group only received the standard institutional rehabilitation. The intervention outcomes were assessed using the parent-reported Children’s Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ). Results: The results indicated that all three intervention methods led to improvements in their eating behavior after 12 weeks. Specifically, the BCTP group and the CIG demonstrated significantly reduced Food Fussiness behavior, while the children’s Enjoyment of Food was markedly enhanced in the cTBS group and the CIG. Furthermore, the CIG experienced a particularly notable effect in terms of the improvement in the Satiety Responsiveness dimension of their eating behavior. Among the three approaches, the CIG demonstrated a clear advantage over the single interventions in terms of both the breadth and magnitude of its improvements. Conclusions: This study confirmed the effectiveness of these three intervention strategies in addressing dietary behavior problems among children with co-occurring ASD/ID. Future research should focus on exploring the combined intervention approach further, particularly its potential synergy, while delving deeper into the neural mechanisms underlying these behavioral improvements. Full article

Objective: To explore recent findings on how nutritional, gastrointestinal, social, and epigenetic factors interact in autism spectrum disorder, highlighting their implications for clinical management and intervention strategies that could improve development and quality of life of affected children. Sources: Studies published from 2000 to 2024 in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Scielo, Lilacs, and Google Scholar databases were collected. The process for the review adhered to the Search, Appraisal, Synthesis, and Analysis framework. Summary of the findings: Children with autism spectrum disorder have restrictive eating habits and often exhibit food selectivity with either hyper- or hypo-sensory characteristics. This review provides an overview of the literature on diagnosis and intervention strategies for selectivity in autism spectrum disorder, including the involvement of family members in meals, sharing a healthy diet and positive relationship with food, and the importance of exploring visual, olfactory, and tactile experiences of food and introducing new foods through play activities to expand the food repertoire. Modifications in the microbiota and gastrointestinal disorders may also be present in autism spectrum disorder and are presented due to their frequent nutritional repercussions. The medium and long-term implications of food preferences and behavior issues for nutritional status are also discussed, given the tendency for children with autism spectrum disorder to consume low-quality and energy-dense foods, leading to nutritional problems. Conclusions: Children with autism spectrum disorder have feeding difficulties, especially selectivity, gastrointestinal problems, changes in the microbiota and can evolve with micronutrient deficiencies, malnutrition and obesity. This review describes the evidence for possible targets for interventions aiming to improve nutritional health for children with autism spectrum disorder. Full article

Background: Dietary patterns play a crucial role in shaping eating behaviours and influencing health outcomes, such as body weight. Understanding how appetitive traits differ between plant-based and animal-based diets can provide insights into dietary strategies for weight management and improved health. Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between appetitive traits, as measured by the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ), and dietary patterns in adults consuming plant-based or animal-based diets. It examined how these dietary patterns influence body mass index (BMI) and explored the differences in appetite-related traits between groups with different levels of plant and animal product consumption. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 553 Polish adults was conducted using validated questionnaires, including the AEBQ and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The participants were categorised into four dietary groups: high intake of both plant and animal products, low intake of both, plant-based diet, and animal-based diet. The data were analysed using SPSS version 14.0 software. Results: The participants on a plant-based diet had significantly lower BMIs and slower eating rates than those on an animal-based diet. Positive correlations were observed between ’food approach’ traits (e.g., food responsiveness, emotional overeating) and BMI, particularly in individuals with higher animal product consumption. Conversely, ’food avoidance’ traits (e.g., food fussiness, slowness in eating) were more prevalent among those on a plant-based diet. Conclusions: The results suggest that plant-based diets are associated with favourable appetitive traits and a lower BMI. These findings highlight the potential of plant-based diets to support weight control and improve eating behaviours. Further research is warranted to investigate the causal mechanisms underlying these associations. Full article

Macro-algae is an umbrella term for seaweed, which is an important ingredient in many novel food products in New Zealand and other Australasian countries. While attitudes, consumption motivation, knowledge, and socio-demographic consumer profiles have been investigated in specific countries in the region, consumer behavior such as willingness to eat and factors driving this behavior have not yet been explored. Therefore, the present study fills this research gap in a New Zealand context and explores predictors of New Zealand consumers’ willingness to eat macro-algae and their perceived trust towards the countries of origin of these products. The symbolic value of food, health importance, food safety concerns, and food fussiness were the factors under investigation. The work builds on an online questionnaire and a sample of 437 consumers mirroring the New Zealand population in terms of gender, age, and annual household income. Data were collected through an opt-in panel provider in November 2023. The data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and partial least square structural equation modeling. Results show that health importance and food fussiness tendencies are the strongest predictors of willingness to eat and trustworthiness of the two countries of origin. Best practice recommendations for marketing managers in New Zealand food retail are provided. Full article

Background: Child eating behaviors (CEBs) and parental feeding practices (PFPs) play critical roles in childhood obesity. However, the bidirectional relationships between CEBs and PFPs remain equivocal. This longitudinal study aimed to explore their bidirectional relationships. Methods: A convenience sample of 870 parents with preschoolers was recruited in this longitudinal study (Shanghai, China). Three non-responsive feeding practices (NFPs), three responsive feeding practices (RFPs), five CEBs, and covariates were collected using validated questionnaires at baseline and the 6-month follow-up. Cross-lagged analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) were performed to examine their bidirectional relationships. Results: Eight hundred and fifty-three parents completed questionnaires, with a response rate of 98%. The mean age of their children at baseline was 4.39 years (standard deviation = 0.72 years). Eighteen out of sixty longitudinal cross-lagged paths were statistically significant. Parental encouragement of healthy eating and content-restricted feeding were found to be bidirectionally associated with child food fussiness. Four parent-driven associations and one child-driven association were identified between RFPs and CEBs. For example, monitoring was negatively associated with children’s unhealthy eating habits (β = −0.066, standard error (SE) = 0.025, p < 0.01). Eight child-driven associations and one parent-driven association were observed between NFPs and CEBs. For example, higher child satiety responsiveness predicted a higher pressure to eat (β = 0.057, SE = 0.029, p < 0.01) and the use of food as a reward (β = 0.083, SE = 0.031, p < 0.01). Conclusions: There were bidirectional, parent-driven, and child-driven associations. Parents should be encouraged to adopt RFPs to shape CEBs. Increasing parents’ understanding of CEBs and providing them with reasonable coping strategies would help optimize PFPs. Full article

Background and objectives: Russian military aggression in Ukraine has exposed children to extremely high levels of acute and chronic stressors that are incomparable to stress levels in peaceful countries. Such stressors can impact children’s eating behavior, for example, by altering the psychological climate within families. We aimed to determine the prevalence of war-induced, stress-related disruptions in the eating behavior of Ukrainian children. Methods: We used a cross-sectional survey to determine stress-related disordered eating behavior among school-aged children under conditions of stress caused by the war in Ukraine. A total of 5162 parents or guardians used an electronic questionnaire to report changes in the children’s eating behavior (EB) in various stressful conditions, including being in close proximity to the combat zone, residing in occupied or peaceful territories, displacement from homes, abroad, and other. 311 (6%) of participants did not report the age of the child or reported on behalf of a child who was younger than 5 years or older than 17 years, and were thus excluded. Thus, the final sample included 4854 (94%) parents. Results: of the guardians, 63% reported changes in children’s EBs during the war, with the highest frequency observed among 5 to 10-year-olds. The most common EB changes observed during wartime included food cravings (38%), food fussiness (37%), aversion to certain foods (29%), and decreased appetite (24%). 40% of the reported EB changes were long-term, lasting over a month and related to altered attitudes towards food. Food insecurity, residing in occupied territories, and displacement emerged as the most influential determinants of EB changes. Discussion: The findings underscore a significant and robust association between various war-related exposures and an increased risk of frequent eating behavior changes. As healthy eating behaviors are learned during childhood and have been shown to track into adulthood, the identified disruptions in eating behavior may have significant long-term consequences for the physical and mental health of the Ukrainian children. More research is needed to determine whether the intensity of the identified changes in children’s eating habits is linked to the severity of the stressors. Full article

Despite the surge in studies on fussy eating in recent years, anxiety as an associated factor is generally not considered, even though children with fussy eating and those with neurodevelopmental disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often have higher levels of anxiety than typically developing children. The current study investigated changes in anxiety scores during a Taste Education intervention, a seven-week school-based intervention for 71 children with fussy eating. Comparisons were made based on neurodevelopmental status (between children with (n = 30) and without (n = 41) neurodevelopmental disorders). Participants were paired based on age, sex, and neurodevelopmental disorder. The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) was administered at delayed intervention (for those waiting 7 weeks before starting the intervention), pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at six-month follow-up. Results did not indicate elevated anxiety based on mean MASC T-scores. MASC Total T-scores ranged from slightly elevated to average, decreasing significantly between pre-intervention and post-intervention, plateauing at six-month follow-up. Significant reductions between measurement points were seen for the physical symptoms, social anxiety, and separation anxiety subscales, but not for harm avoidance. Repeated measures analysis of variance with neurodevelopmental disorders as between-subjects factors did not reveal a significant interaction effect between neurodevelopmental disorders and changes in MASC Total score or subscales. The results indicated that our food-based intervention did not elevate MASC scores in fussy eating children, with or without neurodevelopmental disorders. Full article

Dietary quality and eating behaviors are essential to evaluating bariatric surgery candidates. The Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants–Short Form (REAP-S) is a previously validated measure of dietary quality suited for use in primary care. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the REAP-S in a pre-surgical bariatric population. This study included data from one academic medical center from August 2020 to August 2022. Variables included socio-demographics, the REAP-S, mental health, and assessments of appetitive traits. Statistical methods included Cronbach’s alpha, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and multivariable analyses. A total of 587 adult patients were included in this analysis. The mean score for the REAP-S was 28.32 (SD: 4.02), indicative of relatively moderate dietary quality. The internal consistency of the REAP-S was moderate, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.65. The three-factor CFA model resulted in a comparative fit index of 0.91. Race (p = 0.01), body mass index (p = 0.01), food fussiness (p < 0.0001), food responsiveness (p = 0.005), and socially desirable responses (p = 0.003) were significantly associated with the total REAP-S score. Although the REAP-S’s original purpose was to assess dietary quality within a primary care population, it shows promise for application within a bariatric surgery-seeking population. Full article

Fussy eaters may have an increased risk of becoming overweight or obese as adolescents, with fussy eating and weight status also correlating with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Further, maternal and children’s weight status relationships are well-established. In this study, we analyzed the body composition of parent–child dyads using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Fifty-one children aged 8–12 years, with an ND (n = 18) and without (n = 33), and their parents, participated in a 7-week food-based Taste Education intervention with 6-month follow-up. The paired t-test was used to compare differences in body composition based on children’s ND status. In logistic regression analysis, odds of children being in the overweight/obese or overfat/obese categories increased by a factor of 9.1 and 10.6, respectively, when having NDs, adjusting for parents’ BMI (body mass index) or fat percentage (FAT%). Children with NDs and their parents had significantly higher mean BMI-SDS (BMI standard deviation score) and FAT% at pre-intervention than children without NDs and their parents. Mean BMI-SDS and FAT% lowered significantly between time points for children with NDs and their parents but not for children without NDs or their parents. The findings underline the need for additional exploration into the relationships between children’s and parents’ body composition based on children’s ND status. Full article

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. Full article

Appetitive traits are associated with body weight. Increased understanding of how appetitive traits evolve from early life could advance research on obesity risk and inform intervention development. We report on tracking and age-related differences in appetitive traits in childhood within the RESONANCE cohort. Parents of RESONANCE children aged 6.02 ± 2.99 years completed the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ). Pearson correlations of appetitive traits and age were tested for all participants contributing at least one observation, using each participant’s first observation (N = 335). Children’s first and second observations of the CEBQ (n = 127) were used to test tracking (paired correlations) and age-related differences (paired t-tests) within individuals. CEBQ correlations with age suggested that satiety responsiveness, slowness in eating, emotional undereating, and desire to drink decreased with age (r = −0.111 to r = −0.269, all p < 0.05), while emotional overeating increased with age (r = 0.207, p < 0.001). Food fussiness demonstrated a quadratic relationship with age. Paired t-tests further supported an increase in emotional overeating with age (M: 1.55 vs. 1.69, p = 0.005). All CEBQ subscales demonstrated moderate to high tracking (r = 0.533 to r = 0.760, p < 0.001). Our initial findings within the RESONANCE cohort suggest that food avoidant traits are negatively related with age, while emotional overeating increases with age, and that appetitive traits track through childhood. Full article