In Which Situations Do We Eat? A Diary Study on Eating Situations and Situational Stability
Eating situations are crucial for understanding and changing eating behavior. While research on individual situational dimensions exists, little is known about eating situations as a whole. This study aimed to fill this gap by identifying eating situations as combinations of multiple situational dim...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-09-01
|
| Series: | Nutrients |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/18/3967 |
| _version_ | 1797578234315931648 |
|---|---|
| author | Patricia Wowra Tina Joanes Wencke Gwozdz |
| author_facet | Patricia Wowra Tina Joanes Wencke Gwozdz |
| author_sort | Patricia Wowra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Eating situations are crucial for understanding and changing eating behavior. While research on individual situational dimensions exists, little is known about eating situations as a whole. This study aimed to fill this gap by identifying eating situations as combinations of multiple situational dimensions and describing how stable individuals eat in those situations. In a five-day online diary study, 230 participants reported a total of 2461 meals and described the corresponding eating situation using predefined situational dimensions. Divisive hierarchical cluster analyses were conducted separately for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, resulting in unique cluster solutions that characterized the most common eating situations. The most common breakfast situations were characterized by a combination of the dimensions social, affect, and hunger. The most common lunch and dinner situations were characterized by varying combinations of the dimensions social, affect, and activity. Based on the identified situations, a situational stability index was developed to describe how stable individuals eat in the same situations. The findings suggest high interindividual differences in situational stability, which were associated with socio-demographic characteristics like age or employment. This study enhances our understanding of the situational aspects of eating behavior while offering tools to describe eating situations and situational stability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:20:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2e68a43fd98f480a82b90d49f587eb24 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:20:06Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-2e68a43fd98f480a82b90d49f587eb242023-11-19T12:18:25ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432023-09-011518396710.3390/nu15183967In Which Situations Do We Eat? A Diary Study on Eating Situations and Situational StabilityPatricia Wowra0Tina Joanes1Wencke Gwozdz2Department of Consumer Research, Communication & Food Sociology, Justus Liebig University, 35390 Giessen, GermanyDepartment of Consumer Research, Communication & Food Sociology, Justus Liebig University, 35390 Giessen, GermanyDepartment of Consumer Research, Communication & Food Sociology, Justus Liebig University, 35390 Giessen, GermanyEating situations are crucial for understanding and changing eating behavior. While research on individual situational dimensions exists, little is known about eating situations as a whole. This study aimed to fill this gap by identifying eating situations as combinations of multiple situational dimensions and describing how stable individuals eat in those situations. In a five-day online diary study, 230 participants reported a total of 2461 meals and described the corresponding eating situation using predefined situational dimensions. Divisive hierarchical cluster analyses were conducted separately for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, resulting in unique cluster solutions that characterized the most common eating situations. The most common breakfast situations were characterized by a combination of the dimensions social, affect, and hunger. The most common lunch and dinner situations were characterized by varying combinations of the dimensions social, affect, and activity. Based on the identified situations, a situational stability index was developed to describe how stable individuals eat in the same situations. The findings suggest high interindividual differences in situational stability, which were associated with socio-demographic characteristics like age or employment. This study enhances our understanding of the situational aspects of eating behavior while offering tools to describe eating situations and situational stability.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/18/3967situationcontextfood environmenteating behaviormeal patterndiary study |
| spellingShingle | Patricia Wowra Tina Joanes Wencke Gwozdz In Which Situations Do We Eat? A Diary Study on Eating Situations and Situational Stability Nutrients situation context food environment eating behavior meal pattern diary study |
| title | In Which Situations Do We Eat? A Diary Study on Eating Situations and Situational Stability |
| title_full | In Which Situations Do We Eat? A Diary Study on Eating Situations and Situational Stability |
| title_fullStr | In Which Situations Do We Eat? A Diary Study on Eating Situations and Situational Stability |
| title_full_unstemmed | In Which Situations Do We Eat? A Diary Study on Eating Situations and Situational Stability |
| title_short | In Which Situations Do We Eat? A Diary Study on Eating Situations and Situational Stability |
| title_sort | in which situations do we eat a diary study on eating situations and situational stability |
| topic | situation context food environment eating behavior meal pattern diary study |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/18/3967 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT patriciawowra inwhichsituationsdoweeatadiarystudyoneatingsituationsandsituationalstability AT tinajoanes inwhichsituationsdoweeatadiarystudyoneatingsituationsandsituationalstability AT wenckegwozdz inwhichsituationsdoweeatadiarystudyoneatingsituationsandsituationalstability |