Effect of nutrient, processing and hedonic claims on food-related perceptions: An experimental online study in Brazil and Germany.

Prior studies on perceived healthiness of foods have often compared nutrient and hedonic claims, neglecting comparisons to a control condition. The effect of food claims focusing on the food processing level has received considerably less research attention, although food processing has been included in dietary guidelines in Brazil. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the effect of a control and processing claim, additionally to the effects of a nutrient. and hedonic claim, on perceptions related to a food item typically considered "less healthy" (chocolate cake). We further compared these effects between Brazil and Germany, a country where food processing is currently not included in dietary guidelines. A total of 634 lay adults were recruited in a cross-sectional online study and randomised to see the photo of a piece of cake with one of the four different claim conditions and to report their health-related perceptions of the cake. The main analyses included two-way ANCOVAs (4 claims x 2 countries) for each dependent variable controlled for gender, age and level of hunger; followed by post hoc tests. Overall, results revealed that in both countries, the claims highlighting nutrients or processing aspects rendered the perceptions of the cake healthier compared to the control claim. These effects were more pronounced among Brazilian than among German participants. Food-related perceptions mostly did not differ between the hedonic and control claim and did not differ at all between the nutrient and processing claims. In conclusion, it is noteworthy that, even for an inherently considered "less healthy food item" (chocolate cake) nutrient and processing claims increase healthiness perceptions. While our findings may imply that in both countries lay people are highly susceptible to nutrient claims, food processing aspects seem to be similarly relevant.

[Psychosocial Influence Scale of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Adolescents: Adaptation and Factorial Validity]. / Escala de Influência Psicossocial da ingestão de Frutas, Verduras e Legumes do Adolescente: Adaptação e Validade Fatorial.

Instruments to evaluate psychosocial determinants of fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption among adolescents are scarce, and there appears to be only one instrument - unnamed and unvalidated - that investigates determinants derived from theories of social psychology targeting the frequency of F&V consumption among adolescents. The scope of this paper was to present the process of cultural adaptation and factor validation of this instrument al-lowing its use in studies with Brazilian adolescents. The cross-cultural adaptation process was accomplished and the final version - named Psychosocial Influence Scale for Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Adolescents (PSI-FAVES) - was tested with 429 students (58% female) using McDonald's omega (ω) reliability and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) as analytical methods. The final version required refinement and the instrument showed adequate overall reliability (ω=0.86) and good fit of the data to the previously elaborated model (CFI=0.955; TLI=0.951 and RMSEA (90%CI) =0.043 (0.038-0.049)), being the first systematically validated instrument to investigate psychosocial determinants of F&V consumption among adolescents.

Instrumentos para avaliar determinantes psicossociais da ingestão de frutas, verduras e legumes (FLV) de adolescentes são escassos, e há um instrumento - sem nome e validação - que investiga estes determinantes oriundos de teorias da psicologia social e direcionado à frequência de ingestão semanal de FLV de adolescentes. O objetivo foi apresentar o processo de adaptação e validação fatorial deste instrumento para ser aplicado em estudos na população brasileira. Realizou-se equivalência conceitual e de itens; equivalência semântica por tradutores e especialistas e semântica e operacional por entrevistas dirigidas com público-alvo. A versão final - denominada Escala de Influências Psicossociais da ingestão de Frutas, Verduras e Legumes de Adolescentes (PSI-FAVES) - foi testada com 429 estudantes (58% mulheres) utilizando confiabilidade por ômega de McDonald (ω) e Análise Fatorial Confirmatória (AFC) como métodos analíticos. A versão final demandou refinamento e o instrumento apresentou confiabilidade total adequada (ω=0,86) e bom ajuste dos dados ao modelo previamente conjecturado (CFI=0,955; TLI=0,951 e RMSEA (90%IC)=0,043 (0,038-0,049), sendo o primeiro instrumento sistematicamente validado para investigar determinantes psicossociais da ingestão de FLV de adolescentes.

Escala de Influência Psicossocial da ingestão de Frutas, Verduras e Legumes do Adolescente: Adaptação e Validade Fatorial / Psychosocial Influence Scale of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Adolescents: Adaptation and Factorial Validity

Resumo Instrumentos para avaliar determinantes psicossociais da ingestão de frutas, verduras e legumes (FLV) de adolescentes são escassos, e há um instrumento - sem nome e validação - que investiga estes determinantes oriundos de teorias da psicologia social e direcionado à frequência de ingestão semanal de FLV de adolescentes. O objetivo foi apresentar o processo de adaptação e validação fatorial deste instrumento para ser aplicado em estudos na população brasileira. Realizou-se equivalência conceitual e de itens; equivalência semântica por tradutores e especialistas e semântica e operacional por entrevistas dirigidas com público-alvo. A versão final - denominada Escala de Influências Psicossociais da ingestão de Frutas, Verduras e Legumes de Adolescentes (PSI-FAVES) - foi testada com 429 estudantes (58% mulheres) utilizando confiabilidade por ômega de McDonald (ω) e Análise Fatorial Confirmatória (AFC) como métodos analíticos. A versão final demandou refinamento e o instrumento apresentou confiabilidade total adequada (ω=0,86) e bom ajuste dos dados ao modelo previamente conjecturado (CFI=0,955; TLI=0,951 e RMSEA (90%IC)=0,043 (0,038-0,049), sendo o primeiro instrumento sistematicamente validado para investigar determinantes psicossociais da ingestão de FLV de adolescentes.

Abstract Instruments to evaluate psychosocial determinants of fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption among adolescents are scarce, and there appears to be only one instrument - unnamed and unvalidated - that investigates determinants derived from theories of social psychology targeting the frequency of F&V consumption among adolescents. The scope of this paper was to present the process of cultural adaptation and factor validation of this instrument al-lowing its use in studies with Brazilian adolescents. The cross-cultural adaptation process was accomplished and the final version - named Psychosocial Influence Scale for Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Adolescents (PSI-FAVES) - was tested with 429 students (58% female) using McDonald's omega (ω) reliability and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) as analytical methods. The final version required refinement and the instrument showed adequate overall reliability (ω=0.86) and good fit of the data to the previously elaborated model (CFI=0.955; TLI=0.951 and RMSEA (90%CI) =0.043 (0.038-0.049)), being the first systematically validated instrument to investigate psychosocial determinants of F&V consumption among adolescents.

Quem é o comedor restritivo?: Modelos teóricos segundo variáveis do comportamento alimentar e a influência de redes sociais / Who is the restrained eater?: Theoretical models according to eating behaviour variables and the influence of social media

Introdução: O comer restritivo é relacionado à importantes questões de saúde pública, como obesidade e transtornos alimentares devido às relações com peso corporal; mas há divergência quanto a sua definição e variáveis relacionadas e são sugeridas particularidades para mulheres e homens em relação aos aspectos da imagem corporal, comportamento alimentar e susceptibilidade destes componentes à influência de redes sociais. Objetivo: Avaliar o comer restritivo e seus componentes [descontrole alimentar (DA), restrição cognitiva (RC) e comer emocional (CE)] em modelos teóricos que incluam insatisfação corporal, autoestima, índice de massa corporal e a influência da observação de perfis no Instagram® do tipo "fitness" entre mulheres e homens. Métodos: A partir de desenho experimental online (observação dos perfis de Instagram®), a pesquisa foi dividida em 3 etapas: 1) desenho intra sujeitos que utilizou análises de variância (ANOVAs) com medidas repetidas e covariáveis para comparar mulheres (vs. homens), que observaram perfis fitness no Instagram® (vs. perfis controle), antes (vs. após a intervenção) - distribuídos randomicamente entre os grupos respeitando sexo. A etapa avaliou o interesse por comidas indulgentes (versus não indulgentes) antes e após a intervenção experimental; 2) modelos de regressão linear múltipla para identificar a influência dos grupos experimentais (mulheres que observaram perfis fitness x perfis controle x homens que observaram perfis fitness x perfis controle), da insatisfação corporal, do comportamento de comer transtornado (CCT), da baixa autoestima, idade, renda, índice de massa corporal (IMC) e nível subjetivo de fome sobre os componentes do comer restritivo; 3) proposta de modelo teórico para o comer restritivo e componentes explicados pela insatisfação corporal e moderadores ou mediadores da relação: comportamento de comer transtornado, autoestima, IMC, nível subjetivo de fome e tipo de perfis de Instagram® observado (fitness x controle) por modelagem por equações estruturais (MEE). Resultados: A etapa 1 demonstrou que apenas os homens (H), apresentaram maior interesse por imagens de comidas doces e indulgentes após a observação de perfis fitness no Instagram® (p=0,04, d=0,45) e que tanto mulheres (M) como H apresentaram maior interesse por imagens de comidas doces e não indulgentes após observarem perfis fitness no Instagram® (M: p=0,001, d=0,68; H: p=0,001, d=0,67). A etapa 2 demonstrou que independentemente do perfil de Instagram® observado, mulheres apresentaram maior pontuação para DA, RC e CE. E para todos, a insatisfação corporal foi a variável mais explicativa [DE: ß = 0,25, p≤0,001; RC: ß= 0,26, p≤0,001; e CE: ß= 0,29, p≤0,001]. A etapa 3 revelou que entre a amostra de homens, o poder da teoria foi maior considerando a relação entre a insatisfação com a musculatura (e não para insatisfação geral com o corpo). O modelo para toda a amostra [CMIN =2,13, CFI=0,96, TLI = 0,94, RMSEA (90% IC) =0,06 (0,032-0,090)], apontou que entre as mulheres houve relações significativamente mais fortes entre insatisfação corporal total e comer restritivo (λ=0,54, p<0,001), IMC (λ= 0,28, p<0,001) e CCT (λ= 0,31, p<0,001) e relação significativa entre CCT e comer restritivo (λ=0,21, p<0,01). Porém houve relação significativamente mais forte para os homens entre IMC e comer restritivo (λ= 0,41, p<0,001). Houve moderação das outras variáveis do modelo na relação entre insatisfação corporal total e comer restrito. No entanto, para mulheres a presença das variáveis diminuiu a intensidade desta relação, ao passo que para homens a presença destas variáveis intensificou a relação. O comer emocional para mulheres e homens foi o constituinte mais relevante do comer restritivo nesta análise (M: λ=0,90, p<0,001; H: λ=0,87, p<0,001). Não houve influência dos tipos de perfis de Instagram® nesta etapa. Conclusão: O comedor restritivo foi melhor representado pelas mulheres, e cada sexo apresentou particularidades. Entre as mulheres a insatisfação corporal exerceu influência mais forte sobre o comer restritivo, principalmente afetando o comer emocional. Entre os homens a relação entre o aumento do IMC e maiores pontuações para comer restritivo foi a mais evidente, residindo na insatisfação corporal ligada à musculatura o principal elemento que explicou do comer restritivo entre eles. A autoestima não se revelou um moderador de destaque das relações estudadas e apesar da observação dos perfis fitness ter aumentado o interesse de M e H por imagens de comidas não indulgentes, mas não foi capaz de influenciar atributos duradouros dos indivíduos, como os avaliados nas variáveis pertencentes aos modelos teóricos propostos.

Introduction: Restrained eating is related to important public health issues, such as obesity and eating disorders related to body weight; but there is disagreement regarding its definition and related variables and particularities are suggested for women and men in relation to aspects of body image, eating behaviour and the susceptibility of these components to the influence of social networks. Objective: To evaluate restrained eating and its components [uncontrol eating (UE), cognitive restriction (CR) and emotional eating (EA)] in theoretical models that include body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, body mass index and the influence of observing profiles on Instagram® of the "fitness" type between women and men. Methods: Using an online experimental design (observation of Instagram® profiles), the research was carried out in 3 stages: 1) within-subjects design that used analyzes of variance (ANOVAs) with repeated measures and covariates to compare women (vs. men), who observed fitness profiles on Instagram® (vs. control profiles), before (vs. after the intervention) - randomly distributed between groups according to sex. The stage assessed interest in indulgent (versus non-indulgent) foods before and after the experimental intervention; 2) multiple linear regression models to identify the influence of experimental groups (women who observed fitness profiles x control profiles x men who observed fitness profiles x control profiles), body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviour (DEB), low self-esteem , age, income, body mass index (BMI) and subjective level of hunger on the components of restrictive eating; 3) proposed theoretical model for restrained eating and components explained by body dissatisfaction and moderators or mediators of the relationship: disordered eating behavior, self-esteem, BMI, subjective level of hunger and type of Instagram® profiles observed (fitness x control) by structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: Stage 1 demonstrated that only men (H) showed greater interest in images of sweet and indulgent foods after observing fitness profiles on Instagram® (p=0.04, d=0.45) and that both women (M) and H showed greater interest in images of sweet and non-indulgent foods after observing fitness profiles on Instagram® (M: p=0.001, d=0.68; H: p=0.001, d=0.67). Step 2 demonstrated that regardless of the Instagram® profile observed, women had higher scores for UE, RC and EA. And for everyone, body dissatisfaction was the most explanatory variable [DE: ß= 0.25, p≤0.001; RC: ß= 0.26, p≤0.001; and CE: ß= 0.29, p≤0.001]. Step 3 revealed that among the sample of men, the power of the theory was greater considering the relationship between dissatisfaction with musculature (and not general dissatisfaction with the body). The model for the entire sample [CMIN =2.13, CFI=0.96, TLI = 0.94, RMSEA (90% CI) =0.06 (0.032-0.090)], showed that among women there were significantly stronger between total body dis-satisfaction and restrained eating (λ=0.54, p<0.001), BMI (λ= 0.28, p<0.001) and DEB (λ= 0.31, p<0.001) and a significant relationship between DEB and restrictive eating (λ=0.21, p<0.01). However, there was a significantly stronger relationship for men between BMI and restrictive eating (λ= 0.41, p<0.001). There was moderation of the other variables in the model in the relationship between total body dissatisfaction and restrained eating, however, for women the presence of the variables decreased the intensity of this relationship while for men the presence of these variables intensified the relationship. Emotional eating for women and men was the most relevant constituent of restrictive eating in this analysis (M: λ=0.90, p<0.001; H: λ=0.87, p<0.001). There was no influence of the types of Instagram® profiles at this stage. Conclusion: The restrictive eater was best represented by women, and each sex had particularities. Among women, body dissatisfaction had a stronger influence on restrictive eating, mainly affecting emotional eating. Among men, the relationship between increased BMI and higher scores for restrictive eating was the most evident, with body dissatisfaction linked to musculature being the main element that explained restrictive eating among them. Self-esteem did not prove to be a prominent moderator of the relationships studied and although the observation of fitness profiles increased M and H's interest in images of non-indulgent foods, it was not able to influence lasting attributes of the individuals, such as those assessed in the variables belonging to the proposed theoretical models.

Exploring Psychosocial Determinants of Eating Behavior: Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among Brazilian Adolescents.

In most Western countries, children and adolescents do not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables (FVs). Theoretical frameworks on social psychology of eating, such as the Reason Action Approach, Social Cognitive Theory, and Theory of Normal Conduct have been applied to understand how psychosocial variables can explain FV intake. However, considering those predictors is still rare on the understanding of FV intake among adolescents (particularly in Brazil) despite its importance within eating behavior. Therefore, this study explored important psychosocial determinants of weekly frequency of FV intake among Brazilian adolescents in a model testing socioeconomic status (SES) and body mass index (BMI). A cross-sectional design was performed with 429 students (58% female), mean age 14.45 (SD 1.86). Key variables of theoretical framework on social psychology of food were investigated by structural equation modeling. The model included self-efficacy, attitudes, and social norms (with its subcomponents descriptive and injunctive) as psychosocial predictors of weekly frequency of FV intake along with SES and BMI. An instrument developed for Brazilian Portuguese was used to collect psychosocial variables as well as to verify FV reported intake. The total model explained 45.5% of weekly frequency of FV intake, and self-efficacy was the only significant psychosocial determinant (λ = 0.51, p = 0.001). SES also showed an important effect on the model (λ = 0.21, p = 0.001), while for BMI no significance was observed. In conclusion, the model was adequate to understand psychosocial determinants of weekly frequency of FV intake for Brazilian adolescents, with self-efficacy and SES as the major determinants of this eating behavior.

Food choice motives among two disparate socioeconomic groups in Brazil.

Understanding the motives influencing food intake is indispensable for effective dietary recommendations aimed at promoting healthy eating in an integrative way. The objective of this study was to evaluate food choice motives across two socioeconomically different cities in Brazil. A cross-sectional study with a convenience sample (n = 473) of adults living in both places was evaluated. Food choice motives were assessed by The Eating Motivation Survey (TEMS) with 15 dimensions, and economic classifications were made according to the Brazilian Economic Classification Criteria (CCEB). Data analysis used both a general linear model (GLM) and a Structural Equation Model (SEM) adjusted for age, ethnicity, income and educational degree. Participants were mainly women (74.6%) with a mean age of 36.6 years. Cities were not invariant (Δχ2 = 314.165, p < 0.001) and two distinct prediction models for food choice motives emerged. Fit indices indicate acceptable model fit for both low (CFI = 0.911; TLI = 0.898; RMSEA = 0.041) and high socioeconomic status groups (CFI = 0.808; TLI = 0.717; RMSEA = 0.081). Although cities differ in the prediction models for food choice motives, we demonstrated that there are two main networks of predictors: one related to social context predictors of food choice motives and another related to hedonic-oriented ones. Particularly, hedonic-oriented motives (i.e., pleasure) were the most relevant predictors to the group of high socioeconomic status followed by social context predictors (traditional eating and sociability). On the other hand, the group of low socioeconomic status had most of its predictors related to social context (i.e., visual appeal, traditional eating, sociability, social norms and social image) and also price, but this last one was the least important among the most important predictors.