Restrained and external-emotional eating patterns in young overweight children-results of the Ulm Birth Cohort Study

Oliver Hirsch; Viktoria J Kluckner; Stephanie Brandt; Anja Moss; Melanie Weck; Ines Florath; Martin Wabitsch; Johannes Hebebrand; Benno G Schimmelmann; Hanna Christiansen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105303

Restrained and external-emotional eating patterns in young overweight children-results of the Ulm Birth Cohort Study

PLoS One. 2014 Aug 20;9(8):e105303. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105303. eCollection 2014.

Affiliations

¹ Philipps-University Marburg, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychology, Marburg, Germany.
² University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
³ University Medical Center Ulm, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Ulm, Germany.
⁴ German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, Heidelberg, Germany.
⁵ University of Duisburg Essen, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Essen, Germany.

Abstract

Childhood obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges in Western countries. Abnormal eating behavior is thought to be a developmental trajectory to obesity. The Eating Pattern Inventory for Children (EPI-C) has not been used for children as young as eight years, and possible associations with body weight have not yet been established. Five hundred and twenty-one children of the Ulm Birth Cohort Study (UBCS; age eight) filled out the EPI-C and BMI was assessed. Adequacy of the scales was tested with confirmatory factor analysis and a MANOVA and cluster analysis established associations between eating patterns and BMI. The factor structure of the EPI-C was confirmed (GFI = .968) and abnormal eating behavior was associated with overweight (χ(2)(8) =79.29, p<.001). The EPI-C is a valid assessment tool in this young age group. Overweight children consciously restrain their eating.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Appetite Regulation*
Child
Cohort Studies
Emotions*
Feeding Behavior*
Female
Humans
Male
Overweight / psychology*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the “Kompetenznetz Adipositas” (Competence Network for Adipositas) funded by the Federals Ministry of Education and Research (FKZ 01GI0840). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.