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The association between alexithymia and eating behavior in children and adolescents.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Shank, LM; Tanofsky-Kraff, M; Kelly, NR; Jaramillo, M; Rubin, SG; Altman, DR; Byrne, ME; LeMay-Russell, S; Schvey, NA; Broadney, MM; Brady, SM ...
Published in: Appetite
November 2019

Alexithymia, or the difficulty identifying or describing one's own emotions, may be a risk factor for dysregulated eating and excess weight gain. However, the relationships between alexithymia and eating behaviors in community samples of non-clinical youth have not been well-characterized. We hypothesized that alexithymia would be positively associated with disordered and disinhibited eating in a community-based sample of boys and girls without an eating disorder.Two hundred children (8-17 years old) across the weight spectrum completed an interview to assess loss of control (LOC) eating and eating-related psychopathology, a laboratory test meal designed to induce disinhibited eating, and questionnaires to assess alexithymia, eating in the absence of hunger, and emotional eating. Linear and logistic regressions were conducted to examine the relationship between alexithymia and eating variables, with age, sex, race, and fat mass as covariates. Test meal analyses also adjusted for lean mass. Given the overlap between alexithymia and depression, all models were repeated with depressive symptoms as an additional covariate.Alexithymia was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting LOC eating (p < .05). Moreover, alexithymia was positively associated with disordered eating attitudes, emotional eating, and eating in the absence of hunger (ps < .05). Greater alexithymia was associated with more carbohydrate and less fat intake at the test meal (ps < .05). After adjusting for depressive symptoms, alexithymia remained associated with eating in the absence of hunger and carbohydrate and fat intake (ps < .05).In healthy children, alexithymia is associated with some facets of eating behavior and food intake. If supported prospectively, these preliminary findings suggest alexithymia may be a modifiable risk factor to reduce disordered eating and excess weight gain in youth.

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Published In

Appetite

DOI

EISSN

1095-8304

ISSN

0195-6663

Publication Date

November 2019

Volume

142

Start / End Page

104381

Related Subject Headings

  • Nutrition & Dietetics
  • Male
  • Hunger
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Feeding and Eating Disorders
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Emotions
  • Eating
  • Child Behavior
 

Citation

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Shank, L. M., Tanofsky-Kraff, M., Kelly, N. R., Jaramillo, M., Rubin, S. G., Altman, D. R., … Yanovski, J. A. (2019). The association between alexithymia and eating behavior in children and adolescents. Appetite, 142, 104381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104381
Shank, Lisa M., Marian Tanofsky-Kraff, Nichole R. Kelly, Manuela Jaramillo, Sarah G. Rubin, Deborah R. Altman, Meghan E. Byrne, et al. “The association between alexithymia and eating behavior in children and adolescents.Appetite 142 (November 2019): 104381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104381.
Shank LM, Tanofsky-Kraff M, Kelly NR, Jaramillo M, Rubin SG, Altman DR, et al. The association between alexithymia and eating behavior in children and adolescents. Appetite. 2019 Nov;142:104381.
Shank, Lisa M., et al. “The association between alexithymia and eating behavior in children and adolescents.Appetite, vol. 142, Nov. 2019, p. 104381. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.appet.2019.104381.
Shank LM, Tanofsky-Kraff M, Kelly NR, Jaramillo M, Rubin SG, Altman DR, Byrne ME, LeMay-Russell S, Schvey NA, Broadney MM, Brady SM, Yang SB, Courville AB, Ramirez S, Crist AC, Yanovski SZ, Yanovski JA. The association between alexithymia and eating behavior in children and adolescents. Appetite. 2019 Nov;142:104381.
Journal cover image

Published In

Appetite

DOI

EISSN

1095-8304

ISSN

0195-6663

Publication Date

November 2019

Volume

142

Start / End Page

104381

Related Subject Headings

  • Nutrition & Dietetics
  • Male
  • Hunger
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Feeding and Eating Disorders
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Emotions
  • Eating
  • Child Behavior