Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
School of Social Sciences (Psychology), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Appetite. 2022 Nov 1;178:106158. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106158. Epub 2022 Jun 30.
In addition to its public health implications, the global COVID-19 pandemic has also produced significant disruptions to individuals' socioeconomic resources and opportunities. Prior research has suggested that low subjective socioeconomic status (SSES) may stimulate appetite and motivate increased energy intake. Here, we tested whether individuals experiencing lower levels of SSES (SSES disadvantage) during a nationwide stay-at-home order for COVID-19 exhibited preferences for larger food portion sizes through perceived disruptions to personal financial and material resources. Data was collected near the conclusion of a nationwide partial lockdown (Singapore's "Circuit-Breaker" from April to June 2020). Participants (N = 295) completed an online survey involving a measure of SSES, the Coronavirus Impacts Questionnaire, and a food portion selection task where participants estimated the portion size they prefer to consume for a range of common foods. SSES disadvantage was associated with selection of smaller average portion sizes. Yet, a significant indirect effect of coronavirus impact was observed in this relationship, such that participants experiencing greater SSES disadvantage selected larger portion sizes through the effect of greater perceived impacts of COVID-19 to one's financial/material resources (controlling for one's actual level of income). These findings further support the idea that perceived deprivation and insecurity of important resources (financial, social, material) may influence intentions to consume greater amounts of energy. Consequently, systematic societal disruptions to such resources may reinforce and perpetuate potentially obesogenic eating behaviors of populations that are especially vulnerable to such shocks (i.e., people experiencing SSES disadvantage).
除了对公共卫生的影响外，全球 COVID-19 大流行还对个人的社会经济资源和机会造成了重大干扰。先前的研究表明，较低的主观社会经济地位（SES）可能会刺激食欲并促使人们增加能量摄入。在这里，我们测试了在 COVID-19 全国性居家令期间，SES 较低的个体（SES 劣势）是否会因个人财务和物质资源受到干扰而表现出对更大食物份量的偏好。数据是在全国部分封锁接近尾声时收集的（新加坡 2020 年 4 月至 6 月的“断路器”）。参与者（N=295）完成了一项在线调查，其中包括 SES 衡量、冠状病毒影响问卷以及食物份量选择任务，参与者在任务中估计他们愿意食用的一系列常见食物的份量。SES 劣势与选择较小的平均份量有关。然而，在这种关系中观察到冠状病毒影响的显著间接效应，即经历更大 SES 劣势的参与者通过 COVID-19 对一个人的财务/物质资源的更大感知影响选择更大的份量（控制一个人的实际收入水平）。这些发现进一步支持了这样一种观点，即对重要资源（财务、社会、物质）的感知剥夺和不安全感可能会影响人们消费更多能量的意愿。因此，这种资源的系统性社会干扰可能会加强和延续那些特别容易受到这种冲击影响的人群（即 SES 劣势的人）潜在的致肥胖饮食行为。
