Cultural Influences on the Regulation of Energy Intake and Obesity: A Qualitative Study Comparing Food Customs and Attitudes to Eating in Adults from France and the United States

International audience(1) Background: The influence of food culture on eating behavior and obesity risk is poorly understood. (2) Methods: In this qualitative study, 25 adults in France with or without overweight/obesity participated in semi-structured interviews (n = 10) or focus groups (n = 15) to examine attitudes to food consumption and external pressures that influence eating behavior and weight management. Results were compared to an equivalent study conducted in the United States, thereby contrasting two countries with markedly different rates of obesity. Emerging key themes in the French data were identified through coding using a reflexive approach. (3) Results: The main themes identified were: (1) influence of commensality, social interactions, and pleasure from eating on eating behavior, (2) having a balanced and holistic approach to nutrition, (3) the role of environmental concerns in food consumption, (4) relationship with “natural” products (idealized) and food processing (demonized), (5) perceptions of weight status and management. Stress and difficulties in hunger cue discernment were viewed as important obstacles to weight management in both countries. External pressures were described as a major factor that explicitly influences food consumption in the U.S., while there was an implicit influence of external pressures through eating-related social interactions in France. In France, products considered “natural” where idealized and juxtaposed against processed and “industrial” products, whereas this was not a salient aspect in the U.S. (4) Conclusions: This first comparative qualitative study assessing aspects of food culture and eating behaviors across countries identifies both common and divergent attitudes to food and eating behavior. Further studies are needed to inform the development of effective behavioral interventions to address obesity in different populations

Cultural Influences on the Regulation of Energy Intake and Obesity: A Qualitative Study Comparing Food Customs and Attitudes to Eating in Adults from France and the United States

(1) Background: The influence of food culture on eating behavior and obesity risk is poorly understood. (2) Methods: In this qualitative study, 25 adults in France with or without overweight/obesity participated in semi-structured interviews (n = 10) or focus groups (n = 15) to examine attitudes to food consumption and external pressures that influence eating behavior and weight management. Results were compared to an equivalent study conducted in the United States, thereby contrasting two countries with markedly different rates of obesity. Emerging key themes in the French data were identified through coding using a reflexive approach. (3) Results: The main themes identified were: (1) influence of commensality, social interactions, and pleasure from eating on eating behavior, (2) having a balanced and holistic approach to nutrition, (3) the role of environmental concerns in food consumption, (4) relationship with “natural” products (idealized) and food processing (demonized), (5) perceptions of weight status and management. Stress and difficulties in hunger cue discernment were viewed as important obstacles to weight management in both countries. External pressures were described as a major factor that explicitly influences food consumption in the U.S., while there was an implicit influence of external pressures through eating-related social interactions in France. In France, products considered “natural” where idealized and juxtaposed against processed and “industrial” products, whereas this was not a salient aspect in the U.S. (4) Conclusions: This first comparative qualitative study assessing aspects of food culture and eating behaviors across countries identifies both common and divergent attitudes to food and eating behavior. Further studies are needed to inform the development of effective behavioral interventions to address obesity in different populations

Competition between hydrogen and deuterium abstraction by methyl radicals in isotopomerically mixed methanol glasses

Rate parameters are reported for hydrogen and deuterium abstraction of methyl radicals embedded in glassy mixtures of CH3OH and CD 3OD. The mole fraction of CH3OH in these isotopomeric mixtures is 0, 0.05, 0.075, 0.10, 0.15, or 1. The nonexponential time dependence of the radical concentration is analyzed in terms of distributions of first-order rate constants. For the isotopomerically pure matrices, lognormal distributions describe the decay satisfactorily. The large difference between characteristic H and D transfer rate constants indicates tunneling. In the mixtures, there is competition between H and D abstraction processes which depends on the local structure about a radical, so that the corresponding rate parameters contain information about this structure. On the basis of earlier work [J. Chem. Phys. 86, 6622 (1987)], the analysis begins with the assumption that the structure about a radical resembles one of the crystalline phases of methanol. The entire set of decay curves is described by a (disordered) \u3b2-phase structure in which the radical replaces a methanol molecule and is located near the position associated with a methyl group. However, this static picture is inadequate because the radical can diffuse through the glass on the time scale of the kinetic measurements. Diffusion allows the radical to encounter more CH3OH molecules than would be expected for the static structure on a statistical basis - the effective mole fraction of CH 3OH in the mixtures is higher than the analytical concentration. For the xH=0.05 mixture, we estimate that on the average the radical encounters approximately 26 methanol molecules before abstraction occurs. This corresponds to diffusion over roughly 1100 pm through the lattice. \ua9 1993 American Institute of Physics.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye