Home Food Environment Influences Weight Gain or Loss in Obese Women: Study

The home food environment plays a key role in determining the choice of diet in obese women, according to a study.

 Past researches have also identified that barriers in the living spaces, safety and family members largely influence eating styles and physical activities in adults. Experts from the Emory's Rollins School of Public Health and the Cancer Coalition of South Georgia discovered home food environment of an overweight woman from an average income household is directly linked to her weight gain or loss.

For the study, researchers evaluated the regular dietary pattern and eating regime of more than 300 women that included grocery shopping, food preparation, ordering food from restaurants, food and grocery stock, food placement, family involvement in eating habits, watching television while eating and serving meals.

Almost 84 percent of the participants were African American and all subjects reported living with at least one person. For almost one year these women were interviewed through telephone to note their pattern of intake of healthy and unhealthy food. It was observed that all participants in a week would eat 14 types of fruits and vegetables along with 4.6 unhealthy snacks and 1.8 beverages in their home. These women also ate food from non-home sources like restaurants and fast food takeaways for nearly 2.6 days in a week.

In addition, the study recorded habits like eating evening snacks, healthy meal-serving, eating in front of the television and preparation of healthy food was prevalent in the households of these obese women. These findings suggest although many women frequently practiced healthy eating and included nutritious fruits and vegetables in their daily diet, the occasional eating of sweet treats and high-calorie snacks made them gain excess weight.

"Many factors likely contribute to obesity in South Georgia  but the home clearly plays a role through easy access to high fat snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages like sweet tea. The methods used for preparing meals also make a difference like frying versus baking," said Michelle C. Kegler, study author and researcher of public health in a news release.

The study results emphasize on the need for changes in the home environment and adoption of a healthy lifestyle to curb the growing epidemic of obesity in older women. The authors believe further investigation is needed to examine the differences in home food environment of people living in different geographical locations and religion.

More information is available online in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.