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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Appetite. 2017 Jan 9;112:23–34. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.01.008

Table 2.

Associations of specific individual, environmental, and screen media characteristics with adolescent energy-dense snack food intake


Overall Males Females
β (SE)a,b P β (SE)a,c P β (SE)a,c P

Individual characteristics
Identity as a picky eater 0.16 (0.05) <0.001 0.25 (0.07) <0.001 0.09 (0.06) 0.168
Perceived cost barriers to healthy eating −0.05 (0.05) 0.312 −0.02 (0.07) 0.772 −0.07 (0.06) 0.286
Involvement in at-home food preparation frequency 0.14 (0.05) 0.002 0.16 (0.08) 0.041 0.13 (0.06) 0.045
Meal skipping −0.07 (0.05) 0.137 −0.07 (0.07) 0.284 −0.06 (0.06) 0.329
Depressive symptoms 0.08 (0.05) 0.115 0.10 (0.07) 0.169 0.07 (0.06) 0.249
Weight-related concerns −0.15 (0.05) 0.001 −0.13 (0.07) 0.075 −0.15 (0.06) 0.015
Weight change intentions
    Maintain weight −0.05 (0.05) 0.366 −0.11 (0.08) 0.147 0.02 (0.07) 0.752
    Gain weight 0.19 (0.05) <0.001 0.09 (0.07) 0.185 0.33 (0.09) <0.001
    Lose weight −0.18 (0.05) 0.001 −0.26 (0.08) 0.002 −0.08 (0.07) 0.264
    No intentions Reference Reference Reference
Weight control behaviors
    Dieting in past year −0.16 (0.05) <0.001 −0.18 (0.07) 0.015 −0.15 (0.06) 0.019
    Healthy behavior frequency −0.29 (0.05) <0.001 −0.20 (0.07) 0.003 −0.35 (0.06) <0.001
    Unhealthy behaviors −0.04 (0.05) 0.418 0.00 (0.07) 0.948 −0.05 (0.06) 0.471
Snacks prepared away from home frequency 0.65 (0.05) <0.001 0.57 (0.07) <0.001 0.72 (0.06) <0.001
Snacks while watching television frequency 0.73 (0.05) <0.001 0.79 (0.07) <0.001 0.42 (0.06) <0.001
Television viewing hours 0.34 (0.05) <0.001 0.24 (0.07) <0.001 0.42 (0.06) <0.001
Video gaming hours 0.35 (0.05) <0.001 0.28 (0.06) <0.001 0.56 (0.10) <0.001
Team sport involvement 0.07 (0.05) 0.135 0.11 (0.07) 0.108 0.05 (0.071) 0.449
Sleep hours −0.12 (0.05) 0.019 −0.24 (0.07) 0.001 −0.03 (0.07) 0.675
Home/family characteristics
Home unhealthy food availability 0.69 (0.04) <0.001 0.64 (0.07) <0.001 0.74 (0.06) <0.001
Household food security 0.07 (0.05) 0.189 0.00 (0.08) 0.978 0.13 (0.07) 0.068
Family meal frequency 0.05 (0.05) 0.350 0.04 (0.08) 0.603 0.05 (0.07) 0.426
Perceived encouragement to eat healthy foods −0.11 (0.05) 0.018 −0.15 (0.07) 0.037 −0.09 (0.06) 0.135
Parental restriction of high-calorie food 0.09 (0.05) 0.068 0.14 (0.08) 0.081 0.05 (0.07) 0.462
Peer characteristics
Perceived attitudes/behavior
    Think it is important to eat healthy foods −0.00 (0.05) 0.991 0.08 (0.07) 0.220 −0.08 (0.06) 0.202
    Diet to control weight −0.02 (0.05) 0.746 0.06 (0.07) 0.395 −0.06 (0.06) 0.304
Friends’ weight-related behaviors
    Snack food intake 0.33 (0.05) <0.001 0.33 (0.08) <0.001 0.37 (0.07) <0.001
    Dieting 0.05 (0.05) 0.31 0.10 (0.07) 0.179 0.01 (0.07) 0.874
    Meal skipping 0.05 (0.05) 0.29 −0.04 (0.07) 0.622 0.14 (0.08) 0.070
School characteristics
Presence of fast-food restaurant in 800 m 0.14 (0.09) 0.107 0.09 (0.09) 0.325 0.20 (0.11) 0.081
Presence of convenience store in 800 m 0.02 (0.10) 0.798 0.07 (0.09) 0.404 0.01 (0.12) 0.960
Campus availability of competitive foods
    Not available Reference Reference Reference
    A la carte or vending 0.10 (0.08) 0.218 −0.03 (0.09) 0.727 −0.15 (0.10) 0.161
    A la carte and vending 0.20 (0.08) 0.218 −0.06 (0.09) 0.727 −0.30 (0.10) 0.161
Classroom food policies
    Allowed to eat in class 0.18 (0.10) 0.083 0.09 (0.10) 0.379 0.25 (0.13) 0.047
    Food is used as reward 0.10 (0.10) 0.341 0.16 (0.10) 0.101 0.04 (0.13) 0.762
Schools’ commitment to promotion of healthy eating −0.13 (0.09) 0.160 −0.18 (0.08) 0.021 −0.09 (0.12) 0.482
Norm number of snacks during school day 0.25 (0.06) <0.001 0.24 (0.08) 0.003 0.27 (0.09) 0.003
Neighborhood characteristics
Presence of fast-food restaurant in 1200 m −0.05 (0.05) 0.343 0.07 (0.07) 0.340 −0.15 (0.06) 0.020
High density of fast-food restaurants (≥5) in 1600 m −0.08 (0.05) 0.086 0.03 (0.07) 0.699 −0.19 (0.06) 0.003
Presence of convenience store in 1200 m 0.04 (0.05) 0.403 0.07 (0.07) 0.339 0.01 (0.06) 0.924
Screen media characteristics
Snack incident frequency −0.03 (0.06) 0.649 0.13 (0.09) 0.163 −0.15 (0.09) 0.108
Unhealthy snack food incident percentage −0.03 (0.05) 0.575 0.05 (0.09) 0.596 −0.11 (0.07) 0.130

SE=standard error

a

β coefficients are standardized and are interpreted as the amount of standard deviation (SD) change in energy-dense snack food servings associated with a 1 SD change in the individual or environmental characteristic.

b

Model 1 estimates are from separate linear regressions of energy-dense snack food servings on specific individual and environmental characteristics along with adolescent age, gender, ethnicity/race, and socioeconomic status and a random school-level effect. Statistically significant associations (P<0.05) are shown in bold.

c

Model 1 estimates are from separate, gender-stratified linear regressions of energy-dense snack food servings on specific individual and environmental characteristics along with adolescent age, ethnicity/race, and socioeconomic status and a random school-level effect. Statistically significant associations (P<0.05) are shown in bold.