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Children’s daily negative affect patterns and food consumption on weekends: An ecological momentary assessment study
In this study by Naya et al. (2022), the authors investigated the links between children’s daily negative affect (NA) and consuming unhealthy foods on the weekends, using data from the Mothers and Their Children’s Health cohort study, through an ecological momentary assessment (EMA). 195 children (49% male, 9.65 ± 0.93 years of age) responded to seven mobile phone-based EMA surveys per day for two days over the weekend, examining NA and food consumption (fried chips or fries, pastries or sweets, soda or energy drinks) over two-hour time periods. Data analysis classified the participants into three categories according to NA, namely, 1 – Stable low, 2 – early increasing/late decreasing, and 3 – early decreasing/late increasing. Participants were found to consume significantly more fried foods on category 2 and 3 days than on category 1. Thus, the authors highlight the need to improve the understanding of the variables influencing children’s affect and eating behavior every day, which would subsequently permit the fine-tuning of obesity interventions to address the emotional constructs that depreciate healthy eating. [NPID: Health behavior, mental health, nutrition, obesity, children]
Year: 2022
