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'Boden Food Plate': Novel Interactive Web-based Method for the Assessment of Dietary Intake
Published on: September 18, 2018
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Is dietary restraint a unitary or multi-faceted construct?
Kelsey E Hagan1, Kelsie T Forbush1, Po-Yi Chen1
1Department of Psychology, University of Kansas.
Psychological Assessment
|December 20, 2016
Summary
Dietary restraint, or dieting, is complex. This study found three distinct types of dieting behaviors, suggesting interventions should consider these differences to effectively manage weight and eating disorders.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Public Health
Background:
- Two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, increasing interest in dieting for weight loss.
- Research on the link between dietary restraint and binge eating is inconsistent.
- Existing measures of dietary restraint may assess heterogeneous constructs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify latent factors of dietary restraint.
- To examine the associations between these factors, body mass index (BMI), eating-disorder risk, and binge eating.
Main Methods:
- Utilized exploratory structural equation modeling and factor analyses on data from 840 adults (students and community members).
- Employed structural equation modeling and multiple regression to analyze relationships between dietary restraint factors and other variables.
Main Results:
- Identified three distinct latent dietary restraint factors: Calorie Counting, Preoccupation With Dieting, and Weight-Focused Restraint.
- Eating-disorder risk correlated positively with all restraint factors.
- Higher BMI and binge eating were associated only with Preoccupation With Dieting and Weight-Focused Restraint.
Conclusions:
- Dietary restraint is a heterogeneous construct, with different measures capturing distinct dieting aspects.
- Weight-loss interventions should be tailored to specific restraint types to avoid promoting disordered eating.
- Findings have implications for treating eating and weight disorders by informing targeted interventions.
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