Cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating: correlations between parent and adolescent

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine, in a general population, the resemblance in eating behaviour between adolescents and their parents. This study was based on the first examination of a community-based epidemiological study in Northern France. Subjects were offspring aged 14-22 years (135 boys and 125 girls) and their parents (174 fathers and 205 mothers). The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire Revised 18-item version (TFEQ-R18) identified three aspects of eating behaviour: cognitive restraint of eating, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating. Familial resemblance in eating behaviour was measured by partial Spearman's correlations, adjusted for age and body mass index. Sons' uncontrolled eating was positively related to fathers' cognitive restraint of eating (r = 0.36), but not to fathers' uncontrolled eating (r = 0.07), nor to mothers' eating behaviour. Sons' cognitive restraint of eating was related to no parental eating behaviour scores. In daughters, cognitive restraint of eating was positively related to mothers' uncontrolled eating (r = 0.26), but not to mothers' cognitive restraint of eating (r = 0.13). Daughters' uncontrolled eating and emotional eating were positively associated with the same scores in mothers. Finally, daughters' eating behaviour was not related to fathers' eating behaviour. In conclusion, correlations in eating behaviour were higher with the parent of the same gender, and eating behaviours in adolescents seem to reflect opposition to parents' behaviour more than familial resemblance.

Sex and dieting modify the association between emotional eating and weight status

“…Several exploratory mechanisms have been proposed, including the use of eating as a source of comfort or the difficulty to distinguish hunger from other unpleasant internal states (38), possibly because of inappropriate learning experiences during childhood (39). In agreement with this notion, an association between EmE scores of daughters and mothers was evidenced (28). EmE and BED are interrelated (16,17).…”

Parenting Practices that can Prevent or Reduce Childhood Obesity

“…Research has also shown positive correlations between parents' emotional eating and adolescents' emotional eating (Lauzon-Guillain, et al, 2009;Snoek, Engels, Janssens, & van Strien, 2007), as well as between parents' emotional eating and preschoolers' eating in the absence of hunger (Blisset, Haycraft, & Farrow, 2010). Children's external eating tendencies, or eating in response to external food cues like the sight and smell of foods, are also related to those of their parents (Elfhag, Tynelius, & Rasmussen, 2010;Zocca, et al, 2010).…”

A Review on Determinants of Nutritional Behavior in Teenagers

“…-Influence of family members: teenagers' imitation of their same-gender parent regarding nutritional behavior is more i.e., girls imitate their mothers and boys imitate their fathers in healthy and unhealthy nutritional behaviors (16). As teenagers grow older, the effect of parents on their nutritional behaviors changes due to the fact that pubescence is a complicated period of life associated with changes in effects of social factors.…”

“…This behavior is an unhealthy nutritional behavior and a factor in obesity (15). Since emotional eating occurs at improper mental conditions such as grieving, loneliness, or anxiety, it could also be an indicator of problems in the teenagers familial relationships (16).…”