PEAS_EAH and diet quality ms_orig submission
Year: 2019
Type: preprint
Abstract: Background: Scant research has examined whether direct measures of intake under controlled conditions relate to long-term dietary quality. Objective: This study investigates the association of eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) with diet quality during pregnancy.Design: In this cross-over feeding study, participants completed two eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) assessments in counterbalanced order with 1-week wash-out during the 2nd pregnancy trimester. Participants completed one 24-hour diet recall per pregnancy trimester.Participants/setting: Participants (n=46) were enrolled at ≤12 weeks gestation. Intervention: EAH of highly processed (HP) and minimally processed foods (MP) were assessed separately. EAH foods included sweet and non-sweet (savory) items.Main outcome measures: The total Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI), adherence to adequacy (HEI-adq) and moderation components (HEI-mod) were calculated from the diet recalls. Higher scores reflect better diet quality. Statistical analyses performed: Linear regressions estimated associations of pregnancy diet quality with EAH (energy, EAH-kcal; and percent offered, EAH-%) in each condition for all foods, and separately for sweet and savory foods. Results: Lower pregnancy diet quality (all indicators) was associated with greater EAH-kcal and EAH-% of all foods and sweet foods in the HP condition. Each 100-kcal increase in EAH of HP foods was associated with a 2-3-point decrease (SE=0.7 – 0.8) in HEI (P<0.01); each 10% increase of proportion consumed was associated with a 5-7-point decrease (SE=2.0) in HEI (P<0.01). Greater EAH-kcal and EAH-% of savory food intake in the HP condition were associated with lower HEI-adq, but not HEI or HEI-mod. EAH in the MP condition was not associated with pregnancy diet quality.Conclusions: Greater EAH of HP, especially sweet, foods was related to worse pregnancy diet quality. Consuming HP sweets after meal termination may reflect a tendency for eating beyond satiation and may be a useful intervention target for improving diet quality.
Language: English
Topic: Nutritional Studies and Diet
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4241055956