Restrictive diet option is for health, mood, weight and ethics – 04/09/2024 – Balance

In a study published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, researchers from Brazil and Portugal investigated the main reasons why people adopt restrictive diets, that is, they completely eliminate certain foods from their menu. Among the participants, the factors most associated with this eating behavior were health, mood, weight control, ethical concerns and those related to the consumption of natural products.

Conducted by scientists from Unesp (Universidade Estadual Paulista), Unifal (Federal University of Alfenas) and the University Institute of Psychological, Social and Life Sciences, in Portugal, with support from Fapesp, the research involved 1,200 adults (69.5% women) with an average age of 25 years. The authors also analyzed the motivations behind two other types of eating behaviors called “emotional” and “uncontrolled.”

While a person’s eating habits refer to the way they deal with food in a practical way, that is, how they select, prepare and consume them, their eating behaviors concern more subjective and individual issues, such as sociocultural context, psychological aspects , sensory stimuli and mood.

Understanding what activates and motivates these factors can help specialists model clinical interventions and treat risk behaviors for disorders, in addition to promoting positive, appropriate and healthy food choices — a fundamental mission in the current scenario of great availability and supply of food, especially of high calorie content.

Based on data collected through two questionnaires, three notable eating behaviors in the Brazilian population were examined in the participants: cognitive dietary restriction, in which food is intentionally restricted by adopting any type of diet; emotional eating, guided by feelings; and lack of control over eating, characterized by excesses (consumption of large quantities in a short period).

The researchers then related each of the behaviors to nine reasons underlying food choices: health, mood, convenience, sensory appeal, natural content, price, weight control, familiarity and ethical concern. This was done using a statistical technique called structural equation modeling, which analyzes via numbers the relationship between variables that would supposedly be seen as unobservable, such as mood and intention to restrict food consumption.

“We observed that the more people cognitively restrict their diet, the more they choose foods for reasons of health, mood, natural content, weight control and ethical concerns”, says nutritionist Wanderson Roberto da Silva, professor of the postgraduate program in Food, Nutrition and Food Engineering from Unesp and first author of the study.

“Those who eat emotionally are more guided by mood than by health or the presence of natural content — in short, these adults are more likely to opt for foods considered palatable, such as those rich in sugars and fats.”

“And, finally, people without control over their diet, that is, who eat without thinking about quantity, times or portions, choose their foods for convenience, ingesting what is in front of them because they are attractive, for sensorial appeal, price or familiarity.”

New approaches

According to the scientists involved in the work, these findings can guide future research on eating behavior, including similar studies replicated in populations with specific eating styles or diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension.

Another important contribution of the study is to help guide health professionals and public policy managers in developing strategies to encourage eating behaviors aligned with what is currently considered healthy eating and appropriate to the socioeconomic and cultural context in which each person lives. , without severe restrictions and inflexible attitudes. This is in line with what is recommended by the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population, published by the Ministry of Health.

“Our findings highlight that investing in dietary changes thinking only about what you consume has a high chance of failing. Highly restrictive diets, for example, tend to generate inflexible and obsessive behaviors, which cause bio and psychosocial difficulties, such as nutrient deficiencies, withdrawal from social environments and emotional suffering”, says Silva.

“We are not romanticizing the scenario and saying that it is never necessary to reduce the amount of food consumed, especially because we are experiencing an epidemic of overweight and obesity. But professional support needs to be more harmonious and go beyond saying what people have to say. eat or stop eating. We have to understand the relationship that is established with food, the emotions and the reasons involved in order to then propose changes that make sense individually and have the potential to become more effective and avoid losses in the long term.”

The article Relationships Between Three Eating Behaviors and Nine Motives for Food Choices Among Brazilian Adults: A Structural Equation Model can be read here.