The Bidirectional Relationship Between Picky Eating and Eating Dinner Alone in Japanese Adolescents: A Longitudinal...

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Nutritional psychology
• Adolescent health

Background:

• Picky eating often continues from childhood into adolescence.
• The relationship between picky eating and solitary dinners is not well understood.
• This study investigates the bidirectional links between eating dinner alone and picky eating.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the temporal relationship between eating dinner alone and picky eating.
• To investigate bidirectional links across three developmental stages.
• To identify factors influencing solitary dinners and picky eating.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 1389 Japanese families in the Longitudinal Study of Children and Parents.
• Employed a Bayesian Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM).
• Analyzed eating dinner alone (binary and continuous) and picky eating (ordinal) across three waves (grades 4-12).

Main Results:

• Adolescents eating dinner alone weekly in junior high had higher picky eating in high school; the reverse was not significant.
• Picky eating and binary solitary dinners showed positive autoregression.
• Boys, older students, and higher-income adolescents ate alone more; girls had higher trait-like picky eating.

Conclusions:

• Frequent solitary dinners in junior high may predict later picky eating.
• Shared family meals before early adolescence are crucial for preventing picky eating.
• Findings highlight the importance of family meal environments for adolescent eating behaviors.