Food Behavior Change Research Articles

AB005. Post-disaster solo dining and healthy food behavioral change through cooking class participation

AB005. Post-disaster solo dining and healthy food behavioral change through cooking class participation

Drivers of Food Choice among Children and Caregivers in Post-earthquake Nepal

ABSTRACT Food systems in many countries are experiencing a shift from traditional foods toward processed foods high in sugar, fat and salt, but low in dietary fiber and micronutrients. There is an urgent need to better understand drivers of changing food behavior, particularly for lower-income countries. This study analyzes drivers of food choice among children and parents in rural Nepal. It uses qualitative data collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions with school children, parents and teachers. The study reveals substantial changes in food behavior during the past decade with increased consumption of rice, meat, and highly processed snack foods while an increased consumption of fruit and vegetables is not evident. It identifies cash availability is the main driver of increased rice, meat and snack food consumption. The second driver is the 2015 Nepal earthquake, which accelerated the transition from homegrown food to purchased food as people got habituated to eating more meat and snack foods while reconstruction tripled local wages and changed the food environment. This shows how humanitarian assistance in the wake of extreme shocks can unintentionally contribute to unhealthy eating habits. An integrated school and home garden intervention appears to contribute to healthier diets.

Animal Source Food Social and Behavior Change Communication Intervention Among Girinka Livestock Transfer Beneficiaries in Rwanda: A Cluster Randomized Evaluation.

Animal source foods (ASFs), including cow's milk, contain essential nutrients and contribute to a healthy diet, but frequency of intake is low among children in low- and middle-income countries. We hypothesized that an ASF social and behavior change communication (SBCC) intervention implemented by community health workers (CHWs) would increase child milk consumption and dietary diversity in households that received a cow from the Government of Rwanda's Girinka livestock transfer program. We tested the 9-month SBCC intervention among children aged 12-29 months at baseline in administrative cells randomly assigned to the intervention or control. Most mothers in the intervention group were exposed to CHWs' home visits (90.7%) or community-level activities (82.8%). At endline, more mothers in the intervention group compared with the control group knew that cow's milk was an ASF (90.1% vs. 81.7%, P=.03) and could be introduced to children at 12 months (41.7% vs. 18.7%, P<.001). More mothers in the intervention group compared with the control group knew they should feed their children ASFs (76.2% vs. 62.1%, P=.01) and give them 1 cup of cow's milk per day (20.6% vs. 7.8%, P<.001). Children's consumption of fresh cow's milk 2 or more times per week increased in the intervention group, although not significantly (8.0 percentage points, P=.17); minimum dietary diversity was unchanged. Children in the intervention group had increased odds of consuming cow's milk 2 or more times per week if their mothers recalled hearing that children should drink 1 cup of cow's milk per day during a CHW's home visit [odds ratio (OR) 2.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.1, 3.9)] or a community activity [OR 2.0, 95% CI (1.2, 3.5)]. Approximately half of the children had no milk during the past week because their households produced too little or sold what was produced. In poor households receiving a livestock transfer, strategies to further tailor SBCC and increase cow's milk production may be needed to achieve larger increases in children's frequency of milk consumption.

Food Behavior Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Statistical Analysis of Consumer Survey Data from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing quarantine and other social distancing measures. These measures, however, have mental, social, and economic consequences on diet and food behaviors. The Bosnian case is particularly pertinent since the country has one of the highest global mortality rates relative to its population. In addition, its health system is fragmented and under-resourced. Consequently, in this study, we analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Bosnians’ behaviors relating to food. It is based on an online survey performed during October–November 2020 with 3133 adult respondents. The statistical analysis encompassed descriptive statistics (means, percentages, and frequencies), as well as cluster analysis. The results reveal that the pandemic transformed consumers’ shopping behaviors and food sourcing, reducing shopping frequency and increasing food bought on each trip. Furthermore, there was an increase in the consumption of local food items due to food safety concerns. Additionally, the pandemic improved the awareness of Bosnians towards food with a decrease in food waste. Regarding diets, Bosnians tried to have healthier diets during the pandemic. Therefore, COVID-19 might have opened a ‘window of opportunity’ to promote the shift towards more sustainable food consumption and lifestyles.

Food Literacy and Behavior Changes During Covid-19 in a University Student Population

ObjectivesThe purpose of our study was to investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on food literacy and behaviors towards food in young adult university students. Self-reported scores on each of the five factors identified by the Eating and Food Literacy Questionnaire (EFLBQ) were used to measure change.MethodsUniversity students 18 to 30 years of age were recruited to complete the EFLBQ during the Covid-19 pandemic. Demographic information about gender, height, weight, race, and ethnicity were gathered. Current COVID-19 data was compared to a random sample of data collected pre-COVID-19 in a similar population group. Each of the five EFLBQ factor scores were compared using independent-sample t-tests. Significance was set at P < 0.05.Results229 university students completed the EFLBQ during the Covid-19 pandemic. 164 participants were female(71.6%). Their race/ethnicity included: 184 White (80.3%), 26 Black (11.4%), 11 Hispanic or Latino (4.8%), 6 Asian (2.6%), and 2 reported as Other. These scores were compared to a random sample of EFLBQ scores gathered from students at the same university pre-Covid-19. The pre-Covid-19 participants included 125 females (54.6%). 177 were White (77.3%), 30 were Black (13.1%), 9 were Hispanic/Latino (3.9%), 8 were Asian (3.5%), 2 were American Indian or Alaska Native (.9%) and 3 identified as Other. Independent-sample t-tests were conducted to compare each of the five EFLBQ factor before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. There was a significant difference in scores for the pre-Covid-19 (M = 2.59, SD = 0.49) and those during the Covid-19 pandemic (M = 2.72, SD = .51) for the factor of Health and Nutrition; (t(456) = 2.86, P = .004) and the factor of Food Preparation pre-Covid-19 (M = 2.52, SD = 0.70) and during the Covid-19 pandemic (M = 2.66, SD = .76); (t(455) = 1.98. P = .049). There were no significant differences in the EFLBQ factors of Taste, Planning and Decision Making, and Convenience.ConclusionsThe results from this investigation suggest that during the Covid-19 pandemic, university students have become more concerned about eating healthy foods and consuming balanced diets and are more confident about their cooking skills.Funding SourcesThis project was partially funded by Hatch Project #LAB94331.

Social-psychological determinants of young consumers’ consumption of pork

In order to achieve a better understanding of young consumers’ deselection of pork, the objective of the present study was to get insight into the influence of attitudes, perceived social norms, abilities, and other psychological factors on pork consumption among young consumers in Denmark and Sweden. Using data collected through questionnaire surveys within a Theory of Planned Behavior framework the study explored the extent to which different psychological factors influence young consumers’ intention to buy and consume pork. Multi-group structural equation modelling revealed that young Danish and Swedish consumers’ intention to buy pork and consumption of pork were primarily influenced by attitudes and habit strength, while social norms and perceived abilities played a minor role. The results further indicated that especially concerns about animals and the environment had a negative impact on attitudes towards pork. The results suggest that actors within the pork meat industry need to focus on both the attitudinal and habitual qualities in order to make effective strategies for food behavior change interventions.

Poised for Change: University Students Are Positively Disposed toward Food Waste Diversion and Decrease Individual Food Waste after Programming.

Eaters (consumers of food) are responsible for 60% of waste along the food cycle in developed countries. Programs that target individual and household food waste behavior change are essential to addressing such waste. School cafeterias worldwide offer an opportune microcosm in which to educate on food and nutrition skills and change related behavior. No Scrap Left Behind, a cafeteria food waste diversion program, was developed, piloted, and assessed based on measures of both direct and indirect food waste behavior, and attitudes, knowledge, and emotions related to food waste. Participants had positive attitudes towards food waste reduction, engaged in food waste diversion actions, had some knowledge of the impacts of wasted food, and considered their actions important to waste reduction generally. Food waste per student was decreased by 28% over the course of the first year of programming (p = 0.000967), and by 26% in the following year when measured a week before and a week after programming occurred (p = 0.0218). Results indicate that students were poised for food behavior change and that related programming did impact behavior in the short term. Programming may, therefore, help improve student attitudes and skills to develop long-term change as well, although future research should explore this specifically. In comparison with other research on cafeteria programming, results suggest that food waste diversion programming can positively impact students’ dispositions and behaviors, and may be more effective when tailored to the specific population.

Can addressing food literacy across the life cycle improve the health of vulnerable populations? A case study approach.

Food literacy programs aim to improve an individual's knowledge and skills in the planning, management, selection, preparation and eating of healthy foods. Unhealthy dietary patterns across the life cycle are associated with an increased risk of chronic disease. Foodbank WA's Healthy Food for All® (HFFA) team has made addressing health inequity a priority, by enhancing food literacy skills of vulnerable people across the lifespan. A case study approach was utilised to explore HFFA's suite of evidence-based food literacy programs: Food Sensations® (FS) for Parents (of 0-5year olds), FS for Schools (kindergarten to Year 12), Fuel Your Future (adolescents 12-18years), and FS for Adults (FSA) (18years and over). These programs are contextualised to meet the needs of vulnerable groups at all life stages. In the last decade the HFFA team have delivered 5047 food literacy sessions to over 62000 vulnerable Western Australians. Evaluation results demonstrate the FS programs are successful at improving vulnerable people's food literacy skills and dietary behaviours. For example, over 70% of participants make at least one positive food behaviour change after attending FSA. By targeting vulnerable people of all ages, HFFA's food literacy programs provide multiple opportunities for intervention, to enhance health behaviours, and therefore reduce risk of chronic disease. SO WHAT?: Food literacy programs are one effective strategy that is complementary in helping to address the health inequities in Australia. Government and broader community investment in food literacy initiatives is vital to improving the health outcomes of vulnerable populations.

Effect evaluation of health education intervention on nutrition label for community residents in Shanghai

To understand the knowledge, attitude and practice(KAP) of nutrition label for community residents in Shanghai and the effects of health education interventions, and to explore the factors affecting the knowledge, attitude and practice(KAP), and to provide theoretical bases for relevant policies. Using stratified random sampling to randomly select at least 20 residents before and after the intervention in each community in Shanghai. A baseline survey was carried out in early March 2016. The survey included basic information and the knowledge、attitude and practice of nutrition label. Using a combination of online and offline method such as issuing posters, folding pages, conducting lectures on knowledge, tweeting on WeChat public accounts, etc. , for a 4-month intervention, and an assessment survey was conducted in June. The same questionnaire was used before and after the intervention. The awareness rate of nutrition labels among community residents in Shanghai increased from 63. 0% before the intervention to 87. 4% after the intervention. The proportion of those who felt it necessary to label nutrition labels increased from 77. 7% before the intervention to 88. 3%. When purchasing prepackaged food, the proportion of people who often read nutrition labels increased from 32. 2% before intervention to 51. 8%, and the above differences were statistically significant(P&lt;0. 05). After the intervention, the mastery of nutrition labeling knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of men were positively changed(P&lt;0. 05). After the intervention, residents in the suburban areas have significantly improved their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to nutrition labeling(P&lt;0. 05). The improvement effects of residents in the suburbs was lower than that in the other two types of areas(P&lt;0. 05). Logistic regression analysis showed that intervention, female, high education, living in the central city, knowing the nutrition label, and thinking that it is necessary to label the nutrition label are the protective factors of looking at the nutrition label when buying foods. Health education can effectively improve the awareness rate of prepackaged food nutrition labels, relevant attitudes and behavior changes of residents in Shanghai communities. After intervention, the knowledge and behavior of nutrition labels in Shanghai communities are at a high level. Men, low-education low-income and residents in remote areas are the key population for future health education related to nutrition labels.

Waste watchers: A food waste reduction intervention among households in Arizona

Food waste is a globally significant issue, contributing to financial losses and adversely impacting the environment across the supply chain. In developed countries, the issue is especially problematic among consumers. The present study conducted a novel, evidence-based and theoretically founded household food waste intervention designed to explore how a multifaceted educational approach could impact food waste generated in the home. Households in the City of Phoenix, AZ, USA, were recruited to participate in the study (N = 53). Enrolled participants completed a baseline week, a 5-week intervention, and a follow-up week. Education and strategic information were delivered via a website specifically designed for this study, presenting home strategies for food waste reduction in a variety of formats (e.g. podcasts, infographics, videos). Participants were trained on how to properly collect, weigh, and report their weekly household food waste throughout the duration of the study. Participants also completed a series of surveys on food waste behaviors and behavior change constructs pre- and post- intervention. Household food waste showed a significant decrease from baseline to follow-up (p = .008), from week 1 to follow-up (p = .017), and from week 2 to follow-up (p = .001). Also, a significant improvement in all behavior change constructs was observed (p =0.004 – 0.000) by the end of the study, as well as an association between household food waste and behavior change constructs (rs = -0.28 – -0.42). The present study demonstrated that an educational intervention delivered virtually was effective in reducing food waste by 27.85% among participating households.

Nutrient Adequacy Is Low among Both Self-Declared Lacto-Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Pregnant Women in Uttar Pradesh.

Poor dietary intake during pregnancy remains a significant public health concern, affecting the health of the mother and fetus. This study examines the adequacy of energy, macronutrient, and micronutrient intakes among self-declared lacto-vegetarian and non-vegetarian pregnant women. We analyzed dietary data from 627 pregnant women in Uttar Pradesh, India, using a multiple-pass 24 h diet recall. Compared to non-vegetarians, lacto-vegetarians (~46%) were less likely to report excessive carbohydrate (78% vs. 63%) and inadequate fat intakes (70% vs. 52%). In unadjusted analyses, lacto-vegetarians had a slightly higher mean PA for micronutrients (20% vs. 17%), but these differences were no longer significant after controlling for caste, education, and other demographic characteristics. In both groups, the median intake of 9 out of 11 micronutrients was below the Estimated Average Requirement. In conclusion, the energy and micronutrient intakes were inadequate, and the macronutrient intakes were imbalanced, regardless of stated dietary preferences. Since diets are poor across the board, a range of policies and interventions that address the household food environment, nutrition counseling, behavior change, and supplementation are needed in order to achieve adequate nutrient intake for pregnant women in this population.

Thanks, but no thanks: The influence of gratitude on consumer awareness of food waste

Food waste is a major burden on the planet due its effect on increased greenhouse gas emissions (from landfill and lost production) and issues associated with food security. To reduce the human propensity to waste food, behaviour change studies have mostly focused on cognitive aspects of selection and consumption. However, evidence suggests emotional, rather than cognitive, appeals may be a fruitful avenue for reducing food waste. Yet linking food waste, emotions and framing remains an understudied research area. Our research undertakes three quantitative studies to examine the positive emotion (gratitude) as a message component to effect behavioral change. Study 1 demonstrated an advertisement with a ‘gratitude for having’ message led to higher intentions to reduce food waste when paired with loss framed implications (increased environmental damage) than when paired with gain framed implications (less environmental damage). In contrast, an advertisement with a ‘gratitude for not having’ message led to higher intentions to reduce food waste when paired with gain framed implications than when paired with loss framed implications. Studies 2 and 3 further showed that a ‘gratitude for having’ message was more effective when combined to loss framed implications, while ‘gratitude for not having’ message was more effective when combined to gain framed implications, to encourage participants to receive additional information and volunteer to help with food waste than when combined with gain framed implications. The research demonstrates that food waste reduction campaigns should pay attention to how messages are framed. Overall, this research builds on current theory involving food waste and behaviour change, presents a number of areas for future research and discusses managerial implications, particularly to improve social marketing and education campaigns.

IDietScoreᵀᴹ: Meal Recommender System for Athletes and Active Individuals

Individualized meal planning is a nutrition counseling strategy that focuses on improving food behavior changes. In the sports setting, the number of experts who are sports dietitians or nutritionists (SD/SN) is small in number, and yet the demand for creating meal planning for a vast number of athletes often cannot be met. Although some food recommender system had been proposed to provide healthy menu planning for the general population, no similar solution focused on the athlete's needs. In this study, the iDietScoreTM architecture was proposed to give athletes and active individuals virtual individualized meal planning based on their profile, includes energy and macronutrients requirement, sports category, age group, training cycles, training time and individual food preferences. Knowledge acquisition on the expert domain (the SN) was conducted prior to the system design through a semi-structured interview to understand meal planning activities' workflow. The architecture comprises: (1) iDietScoreTM web for SN/SD, (2) mobile application for athletes and active individuals and (3) expert system. SN/SD used the iDietScoreTM web to develop a meal plan and initiate the compilation meal plan database for further use in the expert system. The user used iDietScoreTM mobile app to receive the virtual individualized meal plan. An inference-based expert system was applied in the current study to generate the meal plan recommendation and meal reconstruction for the user. Further research is necessary to evaluate the prototype's usability by the target user (athletes and active individuals).

Integrating Nutrition Education into Clinical Practice.

The power of physicians to educate patients about nutrition and provide the tools and motivation needed for patients to adopt healthy eating habits is under-utilized. To unleash that power, practicing physicians need to synthesize the latest in nutrition science, integrate it with the established body of evidence on healthy nutrition, and translate and communicate this knowledge to patients in a practical and effective way. Physicians and patients face similar barriers in discussing and incorporating healthy nutrition practices. Tactics and tools that are simple, effective, affordable, and scalable, can be incorporated in clinical practice, thereby making nutrition counseling feasible with only incremental burden to physicians' time and energy. These tactics include: (1) assessing body mass index at every visit, (2) adding obesity or overweight on the problem list, (3) assessing diet, (4) acknowledging risk, (5) being mindful of language, and (6) writing a prescription. Understanding the psychological aspects of food choices and behavioral change, use of technology, and engaging teams are also important. Group visits to address nutrition-related topics are a novel approach to discuss and taste (literally) healthy eating. Finally, physicians' own health and nutrition are powerful predictors of nutrition education to patients and can be a target of intervention as well.

EFFECT OF EMBLICA OFFICINALIS FRUIT DRY POWER ON BEHAVIOR CHANGES AND ANTIOXIDANT LEVELS: AN IN VITRO AND IN VIVO STUDY

Objective: This study aim was to compare the in vitro antioxidant property of fresh juice and dry powder of Emblica officinalis (EO) by chemical testing and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) assay and also to observe the in vivo effect of EO fruit dry powder on food intake, body weight, behavior changes, and antioxidant levels in restraint stress rat model.&#x0D; Methods: In vitro study, EO fresh juice 1% v/v and its dry powder form were analyzed for chemical testing and DPPH assay initially. In the in vivo study, 12 adult male Wistar rats were obtained. Initially, baseline parameters (Body wt, food intake, behavior changes, blood levels of superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde) and control values were assessed. Later 12 animals were divided into two treatment groups (1 and 2) and pre-treatment was given with dry powder of EO at a dose of 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg orally once a day, respectively. Animals from both the groups were restrained for 2 h/day and the same parameters were analyzed at the end of 24 h and 7 days of stress induction.&#x0D; Results: In vitro study, fresh juice and dry powder preparations of EO were found to be positive for all the four chemical testing. In DPPH assay, dry powder showed better antioxidant activity (97%) than the fresh juice form (57%). In vivo study, significant antioxidant activity was seen at the dose of 500 mg/kg after day 1 and 7 days of stress induction.&#x0D; Conclusion: Dry powder of EO has brought out the reversal of restraint stress-induced behavioral changes and reduced food intake, body weight, and antioxidant levels.

A Systematic Review of Digital Behaviour Change Interventions for More Sustainable Food Consumption

Food production and consumption present major sustainability challenges, and finding ways to reduce the environmental impact of food, for example through behavioural changes by consumers, is becoming increasingly important. In recent years, digital interventions have become important tools to change behaviours in many areas. In this review, we evaluate the status of current scientific knowledge of digital behaviour change interventions for sustainable food consumption practices. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist for how to conduct systematic reviews, we searched multiple databases for papers containing terms related to food, sustainability and digital behaviour change interventions. Only studies where the digital interventions were actually implemented and evaluated from a behaviour change perspective were included, resulting in 15 primary studies in the final review. The quality of the studies was evaluated from a behaviour change perspective, and the approaches used were categorised using two intervention frameworks, the Behaviour Change Wheel and the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1. The results show that all of the included studies had major quality issues when evaluated from a behaviour change perspective. This means that we could not find any evidence regarding whether the digital behaviour change interventions examined worked or not. Most studies further lacked theoretical grounding or a clear approach to how or why they should be effective for behaviour change for more sustainable food consumption practices. Our main recommendation for future research in the field is to expand from the current exploratory phase to conducting scientifically rigorous studies of higher quality, more thoroughly grounded in behaviour change theory and methods. Furthermore, based on our study, we suggest changes to the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1.

\u201cResponses to the Chilean law of food labeling and advertising: exploring knowledge, perceptions and behaviors of mothers of young children\u201d

BackgroundIn line with calls for action from international health organizations, Chile implemented in June 2016 a set of regulations to tackle the obesity epidemic. The new regulation includes the mandatory use of front-of-package warning labels on packaged foods/beverages high in energy, sugars, saturated fats and sodium. Additionally, such foods cannot be sold nor offered in daycares/schools and cannot be promoted to children under 14yo. The law is targeted to children; thus, this study examined mothers’ understanding, perceptions, and behaviors associated with the regulation one year after its implementation, using a qualitative approach.MethodsNine focus groups of mothers (7–10 people each) of children (2-14yo) were conducted in July 2017 in Santiago-Chile. They were stratified by socioeconomic status (SES) and children’s age. Macrocodes were developed by three researchers, combining an iterative process of deductive and inductive thematic analyses. Quotations representing each category were selected.ResultsMothers understood the new regulation as a policy to fight child obesity and were aware that products with more labels were less healthy than products with fewer labels. Attention and use of labels in the buying decision-making process ranged from participants who did not pay attention to others who relied on them as a quick shortcut (mostly from middle and upper-SES); many mothers indicated changing their purchase habits only when buying new products. Mothers declared that young children accepted school environment changes while teens/preteens resisted them more. Many mothers agreed that schools have become key promoters of food behavioral change. Mothers were less aware about the food marketing regulations. Mothers declared that they perceived that the regulation was changing the perceptions, attitudes and behaviors toward healthier eating patterns.ConclusionAfter the first year of implementation, the regulation was well known by mothers of diverse SES and different children ages. The degree of use of warning labels was heterogeneous among participants, but most of them agreed that their children, particularly the youngest have positive attitudes toward the regulation and have become promoters of change in their families. Many mothers also expressed that they perceived an important shift toward healthier eating, which may lead to a change in eating social norms. This information contributes to better understand how regulatory actions may influence people’s consumer behaviors.

Using a Community-Based Early Childhood Development Center as a Platform to Promote Production and Consumption Diversity Increases Children's Dietary Intake and Reduces Stunting in Malawi: A Cluster-Randomized Trial

ABSTRACTBackgroundChildren in Malawi face nutritional risks related to low-quality diets and chronic malnutrition.ObjectiveThis study evaluated the impact of a 1-y early childhood development (ECD) center–based agriculture and nutrition intervention aimed at improving household production diversity, maternal knowledge on child nutrition and feeding practices, and children's diets and anthropometric measures.MethodsA longitudinal cluster-randomized controlled trial was implemented in 60 community-based childcare centers (CBCCs), covering 1248 preschool children (aged 36–72 mo) and 304 younger siblings (aged 6–24 mo). CBCCs were randomly assigned to 1) a control group providing the Save the Children's ECD program or 2) a treatment group providing a standard ECD program with additional activities to improve nutritious food production and behavior change communication to improve diets and care practices for young children. Primary outcomes were household production and production diversity, preschooler enrollment and attendance, and dietary intake measured by quantitative 24-h recall and minimum diet diversity for younger siblings. Secondary outcomes included anthropometric measures for preschoolers and younger siblings, child development scores for preschoolers, and women's asset ownership and time use (the latter 2 are not discussed in this article). We used difference-in-difference (DID) estimates to assess impacts.ResultsCompared with the control group, preschool children in the intervention group had greater increases in nutrient intakes and in dietary diversity. No impacts on anthropometric measures were seen in preschoolers. Younger siblings in the intervention group had greater increases in height-for-age z scores than did children in the control group (DID: 0.44; P < 0.05) and greater reductions in the prevalence of stunting (DID: –17 percentage points; P < 0.05). The plausibility of the impact on growth in younger siblings was supported by effects along program impact pathways, including production of nutritious foods, caregiver knowledge, and dietary diversity.ConclusionImplementing an integrated agriculture and nutrition intervention through an ECD platform benefited children's diets and reduced stunting among younger siblings of targeted preschoolers. This trial was registered on the ISRCTN registry as ISCRCTN96497560.

Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation associated with hypocaloric diet on weight loss and metabolic profile in overweight or obesity: study protocol for a double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial

BackgroundDietary interventions have limited success in promoting sustainable weight loss; new treatments allowing better compliance with hypocaloric diets should be developed. The aim of this trial is to describe the effects of a protocol combining repetitive active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with a hypocaloric diet on weight loss and food consumption in overweight or obese adults.Methods/designOverweight or obese adults between 20 and 50 years of age with stable weight over the last 4 months will be selected for a 4-week randomized clinical trial of fixed-dose tDCS (20 sessions; 5 consecutive weekdays/wk, 2 mA, 20 minutes) over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex associated with a weight loss diet. The subjects will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio and stratified by sex to active tDCS + diet or sham tDCS + diet. The study will be conducted at the Endocrine and Metabolism Unit of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. The primary outcome is weight loss. Energy and macronutrient consumption, as well as adherence to the diet, will be assessed using 3-day weighed dietary records. Changes in blood glucose and plasma insulin will be assessed, and participants will complete self-report questionnaires to assess changes in mood and food behavior. All analyses will be done on a per-protocol and intention-to-treat basis.DiscussionThis study explores the potential role of tDCS as an adjunctive treatment with a hypocaloric diet for obesity management.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02683902. Registered on 11 January 2016.

ПСИХОЛОГІЧНИЙ АНАЛІЗ ФАКТОРІВ, ЯКІ ВПЛИВАЮТЬ НА ХАРЧОВУ ПОВЕДІНКУ ЛЮДИНИ

У статті представлений психологічний аналіз факторів, які впливають на харчову поведінку та харчові вибори людини. Вивчаються різні фактори впливу на харчову поведінку особистості, від психофізіологічних до соціальних та культурних. Наголошується на довготривалості харчової поведінки людини, її необхідності в щоденному житті, і, відповідно, значущості для психологічного благополуччя особистості. Аналізується такий фактор впливу на харчову поведінку, як культурні цінності. Це виводить дослідження в простір сучасних тенденцій психологічної науки, в межах якої важливо враховувати культурно-історичні детермінанти. Досліджуються такі фактори, як сприйняття, установки, переконання та цінності. Це пов’язує досліджувану проблематику не тільки із досягненнями когнітивної психології, але й фактично виводить в простір реального життя людини та психологічної допомоги особистості, внутрішньо готової до змін в харчовій поведінці. Робиться висновок про необхідність врахування різних факторів впливу на харчову поведінку людини в процесі психологічної роботи професіонала з особистістю, яка вирішила змінити певні аспекти власної харчової поведінки і тим самим оптимізує своє психологічне здоров’я та благополуччя. &nbsp