Eating Competence, Food Consumption and Health Outcomes: An Overview

Abstract

Eating Competence (EC) is one behavioral perspective of eating practices that has been associated with a healthy lifestyle. It emphasizes eating pleasure, self-regulation of eating, body weight satisfaction, and regular meal frequency that includes food variety without focusing on dietary guidelines. EC is composed of four components (Eating Attitude, Food Acceptance, Internal Regulation, and Contextual Skill), and its assessment is performed using the Eating Competence Satter Inventory (ecSI2.0™), developed and validated in English for an adult population. EC has been associated with diet quality and health indicators for various population groups and the development of skills that increase EC might be a strategy to improve nutritional health, and prevent obesity and other chronic diseases. In this sense, this study presents an overview of the background, concepts, features, and possible associations among EC, food consumption, and health outcomes. The high prevalence of diseases associated with food/nutrition draws attention to the necessity to broaden the view on food and its relationship with health and well-being, considering not only nutrients and food combinations but also the behavioral dimensions of eating practices. Healthy nutritional recommendations that take into account attitudes and behaviors are in accordance with the EC behavioral model. Studies on eating behavior emphasize the need to better understand attitudes towards food and eating in the general population using validated instruments. In this context, measuring EC and its association with health outcomes seems to be relevant to nutritional health. The complexity of food choices has been examined in social, behavioral, and biological sciences, representing a great challenge for applying unique and simple theoretical models. Multiple methods are required, as no single theory can fully explain food selection.

Eating Competence and Aspects Related to a Gluten-Free Diet in Brazilian Adults with Gluten-Related Disorders

“…Our study showed that among individuals with GRDs, EC is directly associated with schooling, income, cooking skills, following a non-conforming GFD, and having a good food acceptance. These results are in line with previous studies where EC was associated with socioeconomic data [ 15 , 26 , 36 , 40 , 42 , 44 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 ]. Another important result in this study was the overall percentage of competent eaters (56.1%), showing that people with some GRDs tend to be more concerned about their diet.…”

Understanding the Interplay of Dietary Intake and Eating Behavior in Type 2 Diabetes

“…Among these are the potential nutritional deficits, increased risk of hypoglycemia, and various psychological effects that impact eating behavior, such as feelings of guilt, shame, or social isolation [ 24 ]. Both emotional and behavioral manifestations influence how individuals eat [ 25 ].…”

Everyday discrimination is a stronger predictor of eating competence than food insecurity or perceived stress in college students amidst COVID-19

“…Eating competence may still be developing and/or disrupted during college years when young adults experience greater autonomy from parents and/or caregivers, instability of relationships, and shifts in social roles ( Auerbach et al, 2018 ); and many college students may be newly responsible for managing their own food. ecSatter is an encompassing model that provides an ideal framework in which to study eating behaviors of college students: It addresses the skills and resources necessary for managing the food environment to provide reliable and regular eating opportunities that, in turn, support dietary variety and internal cues and processes for regulating food intake ( de Queiroz et al, 2022 ).…”