Motives for eating tasty foods associated with binge-eating. Results from a student and a weight-loss seeking population.

The aim of this study was to use the Palatable Eating Motives Scale (PEMS) to determine if and what motives for eating tasty foods (e.g., junk food, fast food, and desserts) are associated with binge-eating in two diverse populations. BMI and scores on the PEMS, Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), and Binge-eating Scale (BES) were obtained from 247 undergraduates at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and 249 weight-loss seeking patients at the UAB EatRight program. Regression analyses revealed that eating tasty foods to forget worries and problems and help alleviate negative feelings (i.e., the 4-item Coping motive) was associated with binge-eating independently of any variance in BES scores due to sex, age, ethnicity, BMI, other PEMS motives, and YFAS scores in both students (R² = .57) and patients (R² = .55). Coping also was associated with higher BMI in students (p < 0.01), and in patients despite their truncated BMI range (p < 0.05). Among students, the motives Conformity and Reward Enhancement were also independently associated with binge-eating. For this younger sample with a greater range of BES scores, eating for these motives, but not for Social ones, may indicate early maladaptive eating habits that could later develop into disorders characterized by binge-eating if predisposing factors are present. Thus, identifying one's tasty food motive or motives can potentially be used to thwart the development of BED and obesity, especially if the motive is Coping. Identifying one's PEMS motives should also help personalize conventional treatments for binge-eating and obesity toward improved outcomes.

The mucosal inflammatory response to non-typhoidal Salmonella in the intestine is blunted by IL-10 during concurrent malaria parasite infection.

Coinfection can markedly alter the response to a pathogen, thereby changing its clinical presentation. For example, non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) serotypes are associated with gastroenteritis in immunocompetent individuals. In contrast, individuals with severe pediatric malaria can develop bacteremic infections with NTS, during which symptoms of gastroenteritis are commonly absent. Here we report that, in both a ligated ileal loop model and a mouse colitis model, malaria parasites caused a global suppression of gut inflammatory responses and blunted the neutrophil influx that is characteristic of NTS infection. Further, malaria parasite infection led to increased recovery of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium from the draining mesenteric lymph node (MLN) of mice. In the mouse colitis model, blunted intestinal inflammation during NTS infection was independent of anemia but instead required parasite-induced synthesis of interleukin (IL)-10. Blocking of IL-10 in coinfected mice reduced dissemination of S. Typhimurium to the MLN, suggesting that induction of IL-10 contributes to development of disseminated infection. Thus IL-10 produced during the immune response to malaria in this model contributes to suppression of mucosal inflammatory responses to invasive NTS, which may contribute to differences in the clinical presentation of NTS infection in the setting of malaria.

Profiling motives behind hedonic eating. Preliminary validation of the Palatable Eating Motives Scale.

The purpose of this study was to validate a new scale designed to measure individual motives for eating tasty foods and determine if any specific motive(s) are associated with obesity. The "Palatable Eating Motives Scale" (PEMS) is a self-report measure adapted from the Drinking Motives Questionnaire Revised (DMQ-R). N=150 racially-diverse college students (mean age: 24.4, BMI: 16-51kg/m(2)) were administered the PEMS along with the Binge-Eating Scale (BES) and the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) to test for convergent and incremental validity and the Sensitivity to Punishment and Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ) for discriminant validity. The PEMS identified four motives for eating tasty food, the same ones found with the DMQ-R for alcohol intake: Social, Conformity, Enhancement, and Coping motives. The scales had good convergent validity with BES and YFAS scores but discriminated from the broader motivational constructs of inhibition and activation measured by the SPSRQ. Of the PEMS motives, Coping (eating tasty food to deal with problems and negative feelings) accounted for unique variance in BMI, and added to variance in BMI contributed by BES scores, showing incremental validity. YFAS scores did not contribute to BMI after controlling for binge-eating. Coping subscale scores were also significantly higher (p<0.001) among the severely obese (BMI>40). Motives behind palatable food intake are not homogenous and should be considered in personalized weight-loss strategies in future studies. In normal weight individuals, knowing one's dominant motive for eating tasty foods may help promote healthier food choices in times and places where they are most vulnerable to do otherwise.

Prefrontal systems involvement in binge eating.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether severity of binge eating is associated with dysfunction in behaviors mediated by the three main areas of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). METHODS: One hundred fifty-one adults (mean BMI=49.50) were classified into three groups based on the presence and severity of binge eating behaviors: Binge Eating Disorder (BED) group (N=22), Binge Eating Prone (BEP) group (N=47), and non-Eating Disorder (non-ED) group (N=82). Participants completed the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe), a widely used measure of neurobehavioral traits associated with the three primary regions of the PFC corresponding with the behavioral traits of apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction. RESULTS: The BED and BEP groups scored significantly higher than the non-ED group on the three FrSBe subscales, as well as the FrSBe Total score. There were no significant correlations between the FrSBe and participant BMI. DISCUSSION: As expected, individuals who engaged in binge eating endorsed greater PFC dysfunction than those who did not binge eat. These results provide a complement to studies utilizing neuroimaging and neuropsychological methodologies and further support for the role of prefrontal systems in the regulation of eating behavior.

Severity of bulimic symptoms is the best predictor of interference on an emotional Stroop paradigm.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the current study was to further investigate whether an emotional Stroop effect exists among patients with bulimia nervosa. METHOD: Performances of 30 female controls, 30 females with subclinical eating disordered symptoms, and 30 females diagnosed with bulimia nervosa were compared on an emotional Stroop color naming task using stimuli separated into three areas of concern (eating, weight, and shape words). RESULTS: Results indicated that overall the three groups differed significantly on the emotional Stroop task, with the interference latency for disorder salient words progressively increasing as the severity of bulimic symptoms increased. Severity of bulimic symptoms was the best predictor of interference on the emotional Stroop paradigm. DISCUSSION: Results provide further evidence that interference on the emotional Stroop is uniquely related to the symptoms of bulimia nervosa and bear credence to the possibility of its use as an additional tool in the diagnosis of bulimia nervosa.