Effects of Emotional Symptoms and Life Stress on Eating Behaviors Among Adolescents.

Effects of Emotional Symptoms and Life Stress on Eating Behaviors among Adolescents.

Appetite. 2013 Apr 18;
Hou F, Xu S, Zhao Y, Lu Q, Zhang S, Zu P, Su Y, Su P, Tao F

The aim of this study was to explore possible effects of emotional symptoms (depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms) and life stress on eating behaviors (restrained, emotional and external eating behaviors) among junior and high school students in China. A total of 5473 students in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province were sampled to participate in this survey based on a clustering sampling approach. The survey collected sociodemographic data, emotional symptoms, life stress and eating behaviors of adolescents. Spearman correlation coefficients were measured and tested to examine the relationship between eating behaviors and emotional symptoms as well as life stress. In addition, we analyzed the data using Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression models. The results showed positive correlation between emotional symptoms, life stress, and eating behaviors. Furthermore, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and life stress were significantly associated with unhealthy eating behaviors, after adjusting for gender, age, BMI, parental education level and self-assessed family economic status. This study suggests that a comprehensive intervention focusing on emotion and stress management would be helpful for the prevention of unhealthy eating behaviors among Chinese adolescents. HubMed – eating

Diagnosing and managing anorexia nervosa in UK primary care: a focus group study.

Fam Pract. 2013 Apr 19;
Hunt D, Churchill R

BACKGROUND: Anorexia is a leading cause of adolescent hospital admission and death from psychiatric disorder. Despite the potential role of general practitioners in diagnosis, appropriate referral and coordinating treatment, few existing studies provide fine-grained accounts of GPs’ beliefs about anorexia. OBJECTIVES: To identify GPs’ understandings and experiences of diagnosing and managing patients with anorexia in primary care. METHODS: Case-based focus groups with co-working general practitioners in the East Midlands region of England were used to explore attitudes towards issues common to patients with eating disorders. Group discussions were transcribed and analysed using corpus linguistic and discourse analytic approaches. RESULTS: Participants’ discussion focused on related issues of making hesitant diagnoses, the utility of the body mass index, making referrals and overcoming patient resistance. Therapeutic relationships with patients with anorexia are considered highly complex, with participants using diagnostic tests as rhetorical strategies to help manage communicative obstacles. CONCLUSIONS: Overcoming patient repudiation and securing referrals are particular challenges with this patient group. Successfully negotiating these problems appears to require advanced communication skills. HubMed – eating

Pre-Meal Affective State and Laboratory Test Meal Intake in Adolescent Girls with Loss of Control Eating.

Appetite. 2013 Apr 17;
Ranzenhofer LM, Hannallah L, Field SE, Shomaker LB, Stephens M, Sbrocco T, Kozlosky M, Reynolds J, Yanovski JA, Tanofsky-Kraff M

Loss of control eating confers risk for excess weight gain and exacerbated disordered eating. Affect theory proposes that loss of control eating is used to cope with negative mood states. Self-report data suggest that negative affect may contribute to the etiology of loss of control eating, but this theory has not been well-tested using laboratory paradigms. We examined associations between pre-meal affective states and intake during a laboratory test meal. One-hundred and ten adolescent girls with reported loss of control eating whose body mass index fell between the 85(th) and 97(th) percentile for age and sex completed state mood ratings prior to a test-meal. Results indicated that pre-meal state negative affect was associated with greater carbohydrate and less protein consumption, as well as greater snack and dessert and less fruit and dairy intake. All girls experienced significant decreases in negative affect from pre- to post- meal, but intake during the meal was unassociated with post-meal affect. In support of affect theory, negative affective states reported among girls with loss of control may be a driving factor for increased energy-dense food intake, which may play a role in excess weight gain. HubMed – eating

Eating Disorders Coalition – Fall 2010 Briefing Part 3: Chevese Turner of BEDA – “Bringing Binge Eating Disorder into the Light: A Personal Perspective” September 10, 2010 Eating Disorders Coalition Congressional Briefing Speaker: Chevese…