Sweetened drink and snacking cues in adolescents. A study using ecological momentary assessment

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify physical, social, and intrapersonal cues that were associated with the consumption of sweetened beverages and sweet and salty snacks among adolescents from lower SES neighborhoods. Students were recruited from high schools with a minimum level of 25% free or reduced cost lunches. Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, participants (N=158) were trained to answer brief questionnaires on handheld PDA devices: (a) each time they ate or drank, (b) when prompted randomly, and (c) once each evening. Data were collected over 7 days for each participant. Participants reported their location (e.g., school grounds, home), mood, social environment, activities (e.g., watching TV, texting), cravings, food cues (e.g., saw a snack), and food choices. Results showed that having unhealthy snacks or sweet drinks among adolescents was associated with being at school, being with friends, feeling lonely or bored, craving a drink or snack, and being exposed to food cues. Surprisingly, sweet drink consumption was associated with exercising. Watching TV was associated with consuming sweet snacks but not with salty snacks or sweet drinks. These findings identify important environmental and intrapersonal cues to poor snacking choices that may be applied to interventions designed to disrupt these food-related, cue-behavior linked habits.

Meals described as healthy or unhealthy match public health education in England

“…For instance, features of meals reported in this study were consistent with eating at home and with family rather than out of the home and with friends which has been claimed to be less unhealthy (Chan & Sobal, 2011;Naska, Orfanos, Trichopoulou et al, 2011). Similarly, adolescents at school exposed to friends and food cues have been found to eat less healthily (Grenard, Stacy, Shiffman et al 2013). …”

Social and environmental enrichment has different effects on ethanol and sucrose consumption in mice

“…Similarly, environmental cues can also influence the consumption of sugary foods (Burger & Stice, 2014;Grenard et al, 2013;Hattersley, Irwin, King, & AllmanFarinelli, 2009;Schmidt, Voorn, Binnekade, Schoffelmeer, & De Vries, 2005). To date, the majority of preclinical research investigating the impact of social and environmental enrichment on ethanol and sucrose consumption has been directed toward ethanol consumption (see Tables 1 and 2).…”

Mobile Ecological Momentary Diet Assessment Methods for Behavioral Research: Systematic Review (Preprint)

“…The remaining 5 studies used a PDA device with customized software [55,60], an Internet-based app [52,54], or social media (Twitter) [56]. All studies assessed dietary intake continuously throughout each day.…”

“…analyze the data based on a nutrient database or software [52,53,57,59]; 3 studies downloaded data from the mobile device to perform further data analysis without the use of a nutrient database or software [55,58,60]; 2 utilized output generated by non-nutrient-related software or app [54,56], and 1 automated the nutrient analysis within the study app [61]. With respect to the primary outcomes assessed, 5 studies estimated energy intake [52,53,57,58,61].…”

“…A total of 10 studies described event-contingent mEMDA methods used in nutrition-related research [52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]. Additional approach details were extracted from other related journal articles [43,[62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73].…”