Obesogenic eating behaviour and dietary intake in German children and adolescents: results from the GINIplus and LISA birth cohort studies

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition 2022-10, Vol.76 (10), p.1478-1485
• Main Authors: Marb, Anne, Libuda, Lars, Standl, Marie, Koletzko, Sibylle, Bauer, Carl-Peter, Schikowski, Tamara, Berdel, Dietrich, von Berg, Andrea, Herberth, Gunda, Bühlmeier, Judith, Harris, Carla P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/308/174; 692/499; 692/699/1702/393; 692/700/2814; Adolescent; Adolescents; Birth Cohort; Butter; Child; Children; Clinical Nutrition; Cohort analysis; Constraints; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Dietary intake; Eating; Eating behavior; Emotions; Energy; Epidemiology; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Omega-3; Feeding Behavior; Female; Females; Food groups; Food intake; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Males; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Omega-3 fatty acids; Public Health; Sex differences; Socioeconomics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/s41430-022-01125-2

Background/objectives The transition to adolescence is characterised by considerable behavioural changes, including diet. This study describes the level of obesogenic eating behaviours in 10- and 15-year-olds, and their association with dietary intake. Subjects/methods Participants of the 10- and 15-year follow-ups of the German GINIplus and LISA birth cohort studies were included (N 10  = 2257; N 15  = 1880). Eating behaviours and dietary intake were assessed via self-report questionnaires. Sex-stratified, cross-sectional associations of “external eating”, “emotional eating” and “dietary restraint” (the latter at age 15 years only) with dietary intake (17 food groups—categorised into tertiles, macronutrients, and total energy) were assessed using multinomial logistic or multiple linear regression as required, adjusting for covariates and correcting for multiple testing. Results Reported levels of eating behaviours were low in both age-groups. External eating was higher in 10-year-old males than females, while all eating behaviours were most pronounced in 15-year-old females. At 10 years, emotional eating was associated with medium vegetable intake in females (Relative Risk Ratio (RRR) = 1.84, p  = 0.0017). At 15 years, external eating was associated with total energy (kJ) in females ( β  = 718, p  = 0.0002) and high butter intake in males (RRR = 1.96, p  = 0.0019). Dietary restraint in females was inversely associated with total energy ( β  = −967, p