Understanding of behavioral factors associated with obesity is of importance in addressing this issue. This study examined the association between cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating and body mass index (BMI) and amount of food plated, consumed, leftovers, and leftover food thrown into the trash (food wasted) in early adolescent girls nine to 13 years in O’ahu, Hawai’i (n = 93). Food plated, consumed, leftovers, and food wasted were estimated using a three-day mobile food record™ (mFR). Weight and height were measured to compute BMI (kg/m²). The three-factor eating questionnaire provided a score from 0 to 100 for cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating. Higher scores are indicative of greater cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating. Pearson’s correlations were computed to examine the relationship between three factor eating scores and BMI. General linear models were conducted to examine the effect of each of three-factor eating scores on food plated, consumed, leftovers, and food wasted. Cognitive restraint was positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.36, p < 0.001) and with BMI z-score (r = 0.40, p < 0.001). There were no associations between three-factor eating scores and food plated, consumed, leftovers, and food wasted at lunch. However, at dinner, total energy plated, left over, and food wasted increased by 4.24 kcal/day (p = 0.030), 1.67 kcal/day (p = 0.002), and 0.93 kcal/day (p = 0.031), respectively, with a unit increase in uncontrolled eating score. Similarly, total energy plated and energy left over at dinner increased by 3.40 kcal/day (p = 0.045) and 1.51 kcal/day (p = 0.001), respectively, with a unit increase in emotional eating score. Additional research should examine the specific roles of cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating and food waste in the development of obesity in adolescents.

Objective: To investigate racial-ethnic disparities in self-reported health status adjusting for sociodemographic factors and multimorbidities. Design: A total of 9499 adult participants aged 20 years and older from the United States (US); reported by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a cross-sectional survey – for years 2011–2014. The main outcome measure was self-reported health status categorized as excellent/very good, good (moderate), and fair/poor. Results: Of the NHANES participants, 40.7% reported excellent/very good health, 37.2% moderate health and 22.1% fair/poor health. There were 42.8% who were non-Hispanic whites, 20.2% were Hispanic, 23.8% were non-Hispanic blacks, and 13.2% were non-Hispanic Asians. Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics [Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.91, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 2.28–3.71] and non-Hispanic blacks [OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.26–1.83] were more likely to report fair/poor health, whereas, non-Hispanic Asians [OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.14–1.76] were more likely to report moderate health than excellent/very good health. Compared to those with no chronic conditions, participants with two or three chronic conditions [OR = 9.35, 95% CI = 7.26–12.00] and with four or more chronic conditions [OR = 38.10, 95% CI = 26.50–54.90] were more likely to report fair/poor health than excellent/very good health status. Conclusion: The racial-ethnic differences in self-reported health persisted even after adjusting for sociodemographics and number of multimorbidities. The findings highlight the potential importance of self-reported health status and the need to increase health awareness through health assessment and health-promotional programs among the vulnerable minority US adults.

Diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, and chronic kidney disease are three major chronic conditions that develop with increasing risks among adults as they get older. The interconnectedness of these three chronic conditions is well known, while each condition acts as a prognostic risk factor for the other two. It is important to understand the progressive relationships of these three conditions over time in terms of transitioning between clinical states and the impact on patients’ survival. We investigate the survival characteristics of a Medicare population aged 65 years and above in a multistate system that contained clinical states specified by death and diagnosis combinations of three chronic conditions. The study was conducted using Hawaii Medicare claims data from 2009 to 2013. To evaluate the progression of a subject with one of the newly diagnosed chronic conditions, we analyzed quantities such as state occupation probabilities in eight states and hazards of sixteen transition types. We quantified effects and significances of potential covariates such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, comorbidity burden and financial status on these temporal functions. Nonparametric method of estimating state occupation probabilities and pseudo-value based method for estimating covariate effects of a survival system were utilized. We found a range of age, gender, race/ethnicity and financial status based interesting covariate influences on transitions and state occupation probabilities of the system. Survival characteristics of the disease system are influenced by subject-specific effects. Subgroup-specific interventions/screenings should be considered for the optimal prevention and care.