Differential associations of eating behavior traits, food preference, motivations of food choice on diet intake and diet quality in adult females and males from the USDA nutritional phenotyping study

There is a growing interest in the characterization of eating behavior traits that impact an individual's nutritional status and susceptibility to developing diet-related chronic diseases. This report explored the relationship of cognitive restraint (CR), disinhibition (DI), and hunger (H) with food preference, motivations of food choice, and dietary intake in adults with specific attention to potential sex differences among relationships. Eating behavior was measured in 329 adults from the USDA Nutritional Phenotyping Study using validated questionnaires, and dietary intakes were measured by 24-h diet recalls. CR was positively associated with food choices motivated by weight control, while DI was negatively associated with relative preference and implicit wanting of high-fat, sweet foods (HFSw). Using cluster analysis, the variance in clusters that encompassed vegetable intake and diet quality scores for males were explained by BMI, total body fat, age, and eating behaviors such as CR, H, wanting of HFSw, and food choice motivations related to health, natural content of foods and weight concerns. In female participants, the variance in vegetable intake and diet quality were explained by age, BMI, body composition, and food choice motivations related to health, natural content, as well as price and convenience. Our data suggests the associations between eating behavior traits, food preference, food choice motivators, and dietary intake/quality differ between males and females. Understanding these sex-specific relationship can aid clinicians in developing targeted strategies for counseling clients towards more healthful dietary patterns.