Is the effect of menu energy labelling on consumer behaviour equitable? A pooled analysis of twelve randomized control experiments

Menu energy labelling has been implemented as a public health policy to promote healthier dietary choices and reduce obesity. However, it is unclear whether the influence energy labelling has on consumer behaviour differs based on individuals’ demographics or characteristics and may therefore produce inequalities in diet. Data were analysed from 12 randomized control trials (N = 8508) evaluating the effect of food and drink energy labelling (vs. labelling absent) on total energy content of food and drink selections (predominantly hypothetical) in European and US adults. Analyses examined the moderating effects of participant age, sex, ethnicity/race, education, household income, body mass index, dieting status, food choice motives and current hunger on total energy content of selections. Energy labelling was associated with a small reduction (f2 = 0.004, −50 kcal, p < 0.001) in total energy selected compared to the absence of energy labelling. Participants who were female, younger, white, university educated, of a higher income status, dieting, motivated by health and weight control when making food choices, and less hungry, tended to select menu items of lower energy content. However, there was no evidence that the effect of energy labelling on the amount of energy selected was moderated by any of the participants' demographics or characteristics. Energy labelling was associated with a small reduction in energy content of food selections and this effect was similar across a range of participants’ demographics and characteristics. These preliminary findings suggest that energy labelling policies may not widen existing inequalities in diet

Factorial validity of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in clinical samples: A critical examination of the literature and a psychometric study in anorexia nervosa

There is extensive use of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) in research and clinical practice in anorexia nervosa (AN), though it is not empirically established in this population. This study aims to examine the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in a Portuguese AN sample (N = 125), testing four different models (ranging from 1 to 4 factors) that were identified in critical examination of existing factor analytic studies. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the three-factor solution, measuring difficulty identifying (DIF) and describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT), was the best fitting model. The quality of measurement improves if two EOT items (16 and 18) are eliminated. Internal consistency of EOT was low and decreased with age. The results provide support for the factorial validity of the TAS-20 in AN. Nevertheless, the measurement of EOT requires some caution and may be problematic in AN adolescents.Center for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT UID/PSI/00050/2013) and EU FEDER through COMPETE 2020 program (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007294info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Children and Youth Perceptions of Family Food Insecurity and Bullying

Children at high risk for going to school or bed hungry are also at risk to develop psychosocial problems at school. These psychosocial problems are associated with bullying. To date, no empirical studies examine the association between going to school or bed hungry (i.e., food insecurity) and bullying. Perceptions of food insecurity are aligned with perceived social standing, and this study is guided by the conceptual framework that youth subjective appraisal of their social standing is associated with psychosocial problems. This study uses a representative US sample of 12,642 students from the “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children” survey. Omnibus Kruskal–Wallis and pairwise test statistically analyze the data. Findings indicate food-insecure students bully others and are victims of bullying more frequently than food-secure students. These results suggest food not only impacts health, but perceptions of lack of food are related to psychosocial problems in the form of school bullying. Schools can implement treatment models that address individual-level psychosocial perceptions to advance positive youth developmental trajectories and prevent food insecurity and bullying

Adult attachment in eating disorders mediates the association between perceived invalidating childhood environments and eating psychopathology

First Published 07 November 2019This study aimed to evaluate the associations between perceived invalidating childhood environments, attachment in intimate relationships and eating psychopathology, to explore how these variables interact with each other, and to explore potential mediators to this pattern of association in a clinical eating disorder (ED) sample. One hundred thirty-seven ED outpatients were evaluated with the Invalidating Childhood Environments Scale (ICES), the Eating Disorder-15 (ED-15) and the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECR). Paternal invalidation was associated to the ED-15 total score through avoidance of proximity and anxiety over abandonment, while maternal invalidation was only associated to the ED-15 total score through avoidance of proximity. Our results highlight the potential role of the perception of an invalidating family environment in the development of eating pathology and of difficulties in intimate relationships. These results endorse the relevance of address parental invalidation and promote adequate emotion regulation strategies and interpersonal competencies in the context of intimate relationships.This study was authorized and approved by the institutional review board committee of the Sao Joao Hospital Center (Number 188-17) and the Ethic Committee for Human and Social Sciences of the University of Minho (Number 006/2017)