Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

In this study, we investigated which factors related to eating behavior are associated with obesity among Korean children. We recruited a total of 393 children aged 10-14 years from a community-based sample. Body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) was used to define overweight (≥85 percentile) and obese (≥95 percentile or 25 kg/m2). Factors related to eating behavior were assessed using the food craving questionnaire-trait (FCQ-T), state, Dutch eating behavior questionnaire (DEBQ) and three factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ). Obese children showed greater waist circumference, body fat percentage and higher blood pressure compare to non-obese children. In terms of factors related to eating behavior, obese children showed higher score in preoccupation with food, lack of control, intense desire to eat, dietary and cognitive restraint and disinhibition. These traits were more significant in boys than girls. Most factors related to eating behavior were significantly correlated with BMI, except positive and negative reinforcement, feelings of hunger and emotional eating. In regression analysis, only three factors related to eating behavior were significantly associated with obesity (odds ratio [95% CI], 1.364 [1.027-1.810] for FCQ-T preoccupation with food, 1.136 [1.052-1.226] for DEBQ dietary restraint and 1.435 [1.005-2.050] for TFEQ disinhibition). In conclusion, several factors related to eating behavior such as preoccupation with food, dietary restraint and disinhibition were significantly associated with obesity in Korean children. Given that eating habits formed in childhood track to adulthood, further investigation to identify factors related to eating behavior and their relationship with obesity may be helpful to prevent and manage obesity. This research was supported by Social Problem Solving Research Program through the National Research Foundation for Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (2013M3C8A2A02078508).

Biography

Eun Young Lee has completed her PhD from Yonsei University College of Medicine. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, South Korea. She has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and has been researching in areas related diabetes, metabolism, obesity and aging.

Email: leyme@naver.com