Abstract Body: Background: Dysfunctional eating behaviors, including overeating, may serve as coping strategies against chronic stress (CS). US-residing Latinos face disproportionate exposure to CS, but overeating remains understudied in this population. Furthermore, overeating is usually measured using subjective scales, with little data on objective measures of overall excessive intake. This study estimated the distribution of objective overeating (OO) among US Latino men and women by CS.
Methods: Data from adult participants of the Sociocultural Ancillary Study of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (n=4,940; mean ± SD age 42.2 ± 0.37; 55.3% female) were used. CS was measured using a scale that assessed stressors across eight life domains, present for at least six months, and rated as moderately/very stressful, and was categorized into 0, 1, 2, or 3+ stressors. Dietary intake was assessed using two 24-hour recalls. Usual dietary intake was estimated accounting for within- to between-person variance, demographic, and clinical covariates using the National Cancer Institute method and bootstrap weights for variance estimation. Objective overeating was quantified with the following equation: Total energy intake > Basal Metabolic Rate x Physical activity factor + 500 due to the hypothesis that consuming 500 calories over the daily caloric needs every day for one week can lead to an increase of one pound. The physical activity factor was assessed with the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. All analyses used appropriate sample weight and complex survey procedures.
Results: The survey-weighted prevalence of 0, 1, 2, and 3+ CS, was 44.7%, 22.0%, 14.9% and 18.4%, respectively. The overall prevalence of OO was 21.7% (SE 2.7). Sex was significantly associated with OO (B = 1.05, p = 0.002), indicating the distribution of OO is significantly different among men and women. Among men, estimated OO prevalence by CS were as follows: 28.3% (SE 6.62) for 0 CS, 28.0% (SE 12.5) for 1 CS, 26.3% (SE 8.7) for 2 CS, and 33.6% (SE 9.9) for 3+ CS. Among women results were: 16.9% (SE 3.7) for 0 CS, 13.9% (SE 4.5) for 1 CS, 18.2% (SE 4.8) for 2 CS, and 17.0% (SE 6.9) for 3+ CS.
Conclusion: Among US-residing Latinos, there are patterns of elevated overeating, measured objectively, across higher CS categories, as well as sex-based differences. Men had higher OO at higher categories of stress compared to women. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our findings.