Food Restraint Research Articles

Lesa Scholl, Food Restraint and Fasting in Victorian Religion and Literature.

Abstract This is an academic review of Lesa Scholl's groundbreaking work Food Restraint and Fasting in Victorian Religion and Literature (2022), which examines the theological, political and socio-economic motivations which underpin food restraint and fasting in Victorian England.

Dietary Attitude of Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:A Cross-sectional study.

Background and Objectives: There is a paucity of literature on the dietary attitude (DA) of patients with type 2 diabetes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Although the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is high in Gulf countries, there remains a lack of understanding of the importance of dietary behavior in diabetes management among patients. Understanding the behavior of patients with diabetes towards the disease requires knowledge of their DA. Therefore, this study aimed to assess and evaluate the DA of type 2 diabetes patients, and it is the first of its kind in the KSA. Material and Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 350 patients with type 2 diabetes. A self-administered DA questionnaire was used to collect the data. Psychometric properties of the questionnaire were assessed by face validity, content validity, exploratory factor analysis, and internal consistency reliability. The data were collected using a systematic random sampling technique. Results: The overall DA of the patients was inappropriate (p = 0.014). Patients had an inappropriate DA towards food selection (p = 0.003), healthy choices (p = 0.005), food restraint (p < 0.001), health impact (p < 0.001), and food categorization (p = 0.033). A poor DA was also observed in relation to the consumption of red meat (p <0.001), rice (p < 0.001), soup and sauces (p = 0.040), dairy products (p = 0.015), and junk food (p < 0.001). Conclusions: It is highly recommended that patients with diabetes receive counseling with an empowerment approach, as this can bring about changes in their dietary behavior, which is deeply rooted in their daily routine. Healthcare providers should also be well-informed about patients’ attitudes and beliefs towards diabetes to design tailored educational and salutary programs for this specific community. Diabetes self-management educational programs should also be provided on a regular basis with a special emphasis on diet and its related components.

The Effect of Food Restraint and Disinhibition Level on Time Course of Visual Attention to High-Calorie Food

The Effect of Food Restraint and Disinhibition Level on Time Course of Visual Attention to High-Calorie Food

Meal replacement: calming the hot-state brain network of appetite.

There is a growing awareness in the field of neuroscience that the self-regulation of eating behavior is driven by complex networks within the brain. These networks may be vulnerable to “hot states” which people can move into and out of dynamically throughout the course of a day as a function of changes in affect or visceral cues. The goal of the current study was to identify and determine differences in the Hot-state Brain Network of Appetite (HBN-A) that exists after a brief period of food restraint followed either by the consumption of a meal replacement (MR) or water. Fourteen overweight/obese adults came to our laboratory on two different occasions. Both times they consumed a controlled breakfast meal and then were restricted from eating for 2.5 h prior to an MRI scan. On one visit, they consumed a meal replacement (MR) liquid meal after this period of food restriction; on the other visit they consumed an equal amount of water. After these manipulations, the participants underwent a resting fMRI scan. Our first study aim employed an exploratory, data-driven approach to identify hubs relevant to the HBN-A. Using data from the water condition, five regions were found to be the hubs or nodes of the HBN-A: insula, anterior cingulated cortex, the superior temporal pole, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. We then demonstrated that the consumption of a liquid MR dampened interconnectivity between the nodes of the HBN-A as compared to water. Importantly and consistent with these network data, the consumption of a MR beverage also lowered state cravings and hunger.

Embodied metaphors and emotions in the moralization of restrained eating practices

Moralization is the process whereby preferences are converted to values. Two studies used an embodied metaphor approach, in which moral metaphors are grounded in one's sense of physical cleanliness, to investigate whether restrained eating practices are moralized among women. Specifically, we predicted that the restraint of food by women is embodied in their feelings of physical cleanliness. Study 1 found that failures of restrained eating (i.e., overeating) increased accessibility of physical cleanliness-related words for women, but not men. Study 2 found that increased negative moral emotions fully mediated the effect of overeating on a desire for physical cleanliness. Overall, the studies argue for the importance of morality in restrained eating and in the central role of emotions in the embodiment of cognitive metaphors.

Managing infant feeding practices: the competing needs of bulimic mothers and their children

This paper seeks to explain how bulimic mothers accommodated infant feeding demands in conjunction with managing their disordered eating practices. Eating disorders are chronic and disabling illnesses primarily affecting women. There are few qualitative studies describing bulimia in the context of motherhood. The study employed an inductive qualitative approach. A purposive sample of childbearing women (n = 16), who self-defined as living with an eating disorder, were recruited. Data were generated from one-to-one interviews; a thematic analysis identified key issues. Participants were primarily responsible for ensuring child/ren's socialisation processes, including modelling appropriate dietary behaviours and these demands often conflicted with their personal needs for food restraint. Pressures to participate in social activities with children were widely experienced as stressful especially when these events focused on food. Participants viewed early and repeated exposure to 'healthy' eating as protective against their children acquiring an eating disorder and in this respect commercial child-care facilities provided alternative environments for children to explore food-related activities. Participants employed a variety of strategies to ensure children's exposure to normalising influences and socialising processes. Concerns about personal competencies with respect to food preparation and storage were articulated by all participants. Professionals involved with providing care to mothers and their infants are well placed to support bulimic clients and to foster confidence in their mothering skills. Early and appropriate intervention is key to effecting positive changes in bulimic patterns, with potential benefits to women's future health and well-being and that of their children.

Increasing Healthy Eating vs. Reducing High Energy‐dense Foods to Treat Pediatric Obesity

The objective was to compare targeting increased eating of healthy foods vs. reducing intake of high energy-dense foods within the context of a family-based behavioral weight control program. Forty-one 8-12 year-old children >85th BMI percentile were randomly assigned to a 24-month family-based behavioral treatment that targeted increasing fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy vs. reducing intake of high energy-dense foods. Children in the increase healthy food group showed greater reduction in zBMI compared to children in the reduce high energy-dense food group at 12- (-0.30 zBMI units vs. -0.15 zBMI units, P = 0.01) and 24- (-0.36 zBMI units vs -0.13 zBMI units, P = 0.04) month follow-up. Parents in the increase healthy food group showed greater reductions in concern about child weight (P = 0.007), and these changes were associated with child zBMI change (P = 0.008). Children in the reduce high energy-dense group showed larger sustained reductions in high energy-dense foods (P < 0.05). Baseline levels of high energy-dense foods (P < 0.05), parent food restraint (P = 0.01), parent concern over parent weight (P = 0.01) and parent acceptance of the child (P < 0.05) moderated child zBMI change, with greater sustained reductions in zBMI for children in the increase healthy food group for each measure. Parent zBMI change followed the same pattern as child changes, and parent and child zBMI changes were correlated (P < 0.001). Focusing on healthy food choices within an energy restricted diet may be useful in family-based weight control programs.

An algorithm for the diagnosis of Münchausen’s syndrome in eating disorders

To present an algorithm for the diagnosis of Münchausen's syndrome (MS) in patients with eating disorders (ED). Case reports and review of the literature using PubMed. Two cases diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN): one later diagnosed with MS and one with Münchausen's syndrome by proxy (MSBP) are presented. We then present an algorithm to aid in the diagnosis of MS and MSBP in patients with eating disorders. EDs can be distinguished from MS by their distinctive psychopathological traits, including fear of weight gain, eating and shape concerns, and food restraint. However, the diagnosis of concurrent ED and MS can be difficult because patients with both disorders may manifest similar abnormal behaviours: self-injurious behaviour, manipulation, splitting, physical complaints, multiple admissions, non-compliance, and giving false information. We present an algorithm as an aid to the diagnosis of concurrent MS and ED.

Fuel economy in food‐deprived skeletal muscle: signaling pathways and regulatory mechanisms

Energy deprivation poses a tremendous challenge to skeletal muscle. Glucose (ATP) depletion causes muscle fibers to undergo rapid adaptive changes toward the use of fatty acids (instead of glucose) as fuel. Physiological situations involving energy deprivation in skeletal muscle include exercise and fasting. A vast body of evidence is available on the signaling pathways that lead to structural/metabolic changes in muscle during exercise and endurance training. In contrast, only recently has a systematic, overall picture been obtained of the signaling processes (and their kinetics and sequential order) that lead to adaptations of the muscle to the fasting state. It has become clear that the reaction of the organism to food restraint or deprivation involves a rapid signaling process causing skeletal muscles, which generally use glucose as their predominant fuel, to switch to the use of fat as fuel. Efficient sensing of glucose depletion in skeletal muscle guarantees maintained activity in those tissues that rely entirely on glucose (such as the brain). To metabolize fatty acids, skeletal muscle needs to activate complex transcription, translation, and phosphorylation pathways. Only recently has it become clear that these pathways are interrelated and tightly regulated in a rapid, transient manner. Food deprivation may trigger these responses with a timing/intensity that differs among animal species and that may depend on their individual ability to induce structural/metabolic changes that serve to safeguard whole-body energy homeostasis in the longer term. The increased cellular AMP/ATP ratio induced by food deprivation, which results in activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), initiates a rapid signaling process, resulting in the recruitment of factors mediating the structural/metabolic shift in skeletal muscle toward this change in fuel usage. These factors include peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha), PPARdelta, and their target genes, which are involved in the formation of oxidative muscle fibers, mitochondrial biogenesis, oxidative phosphorylation, and fatty acid oxidation. Fatty acids, besides being the fuel for mitochondrial oxidation, have been identified as important signaling molecules regulating the transcription and/or activity of the genes or gene products involved in fatty acid metabolism during food deprivation. It is thus becoming increasingly clear that fatty acids determine the economy of their own usage. We discuss the order of events from the onset of food deprivation and their importance.

Do preschool children understand what it means to “diet,” and do they do it?

The current study determined what preschool children understand about dieting and the extent to which they report engaging in dieting behaviors. Forty-two children (mean age = 5.2 years) were interviewed about their understanding of the word "diet" and about food restraint behaviors. Children's height and weight were recorded. Only 17% of the children provided an accurate definition of the word diet (i.e., an answer having to do with the foods a person eats). None of the children mentioned weight loss in their definition. Children reported occasional use of restraint behaviors. Girls and heavier children reported more use of restraint. Children did not have a clear understanding of the word diet. Thus, the use of the word diet should be avoided when assessing eating behaviors in preschool children. Individual differences in reported dieting behaviors were in the expected directions, suggesting validity in these reports and early emerging social pressures to diet.

Engaging teachers in an eating disorder preventive intervention

This study evaluated the effectiveness at 1-year follow-up of a psychoeducational eating disorders preventive intervention implemented by specifically trained teachers. Participating teachers participated in a 5-week training program. One hundred forty-one female students attending nine classes at a vocational training school in Mestre (Venice) were assessed via a structured clinical interview (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders) and via the 40-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40). Three classes were randomly selected to participate in a 6-week prevention program conducted by the trained teachers. Our data show that a disturbing number of the girls who were asymptomatic at baseline had developed a full or partial eating disorder 1 year later. This was the case for 2 (5%) participants and 10 (11%) subjects in the control group. Subjects in the prevention group differed significantly from the control group at the 1-year follow-up. This was the case for their EAT Bulimia subscale scores, which showed a significant improvement. The intervention group also revealed a lower development of food restraint and pathologic body attitudes. Given the sample size, our findings must be considered cautiously. However, they suggest that students can benefit from participation in a preventive intervention program conducted by teachers, and the benefits appear to be particularly pronounced for bulimic symptoms.

Attention and Disordered Eating Behavior: II. Disattention to Turbulent Inner Sensations as a Risk Factor in the Development of Anorexia Nervosa

The Slade model for development of anorexia nervosa proposes that the female may seek success and control in her life by pursuing a thin body through dieting when faced with serious personal problems. Extending upon this model, the present program of research has sought to identify those characteristics of women generally at-risk for anorexia nervosa that would make dieting behavior especially successful, permitting the progression from food restraint into food aversion. The present studies considered whether heightened and stress-related inner stimulation could interfere with the at-risk woman's sensitivity to hunger sensations, thereby decreasing her motivation to eat. A series of analyses conducted within two studies indicated: (1) a relationship between elevated daily stress, concern over being over-whelmed by inner feelings, and a loss of discrimination regarding sources of inner feelings, (2) a tendency to narrow attentional focus when overloaded with excessive internal stimulation, and (3) diminished sensitivity to hunger sensations for women generally at-risk for anorexia nervosa given a narrowed attentional focus.

Distorted Body Image as a Risk Factor in Anorexia Nervosa: Replication and Clarification

This study replicated the results of an earlier one in which college women showing psychological similarities to anorexics indicated an unrealistically larger body-image relative to controls but only if they were relatively thin. This kind of perceptual enhancement was not found when inanimate objects were rated. The proposal that an enhanced body image plays a dynamic role in motivating food restraint (and may increase the risk of becoming anorexic) was supported by an analysis of dieting strategies.

DISTORTED BODY IMAGE AS A RISK FACTOR IN ANOREXIA NERVOSA: REPLICATION AND CLARIFICATION

This study replicated the results of an earlier one in which college women showing psychological similarities to anorexics indicated an unrealistically larger body-image relative to controls but only if they were relatively thin. This kind of perceptual enhancement was not found when inanimate objects were rated. The proposal that an enhanced body image plays a dynamic role in motivating food restraint (and may increase the risk of becoming anorexic) was supported by an analysis of dieting strategies.