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Concept Development and Use of an Automated Food Intake and Eating Behavior Assessment Method
Published on: February 19, 2021
Measuring the meanings of eating in minority youth
Arianna D McClain1, Mary Ann Pentz, Selena T Nguyen-Rodriguez
1Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, United States. arianna.mcclain@stanford.edu
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to present the development of the Meanings of Eating Index (MEI) in a diverse sample of children. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on MEI items. Factors with eigenvalues above 1.0 were retained. Items that loaded on multiple factors or with item-total correlations below 0.50 were discarded. A 24-item, 5-factor scale comprised the final MEI. Personal Negative Emotions and Disturbed Eating were positively associated with frequency of high calorie snack food intake (r=0.21, p<0.05; r=0.33, p<0.01), and Personal Well Being was positively associated with eating vegetables more frequently (r=0.20; p<0.05). Eating on Behalf of Others was negatively associated with frequency of vegetable intake (r=-.20; p<0.05). Pleasure Eating was not associated with dietary intake. The MEI shows promise as a tool for understanding the affective determinants of dietary intake in minority youth.
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