作者：
Duan-Rung Chen (陳端容-本所教師及通訊作者)、An-Kuo Chou (周安國-本院健管所行社組畢業校友)、Tung-Sung Tseng
期刊名稱：Appetite
發表日期：2024.11.15
發表文章：
摘要/Abstract
移民母親影響台灣學童飲食行為健康素養成關鍵因素
孩子為何因情緒狂吃？研究揭祕背後原因！
孩子為什麼一不開心就狂吃零食？由國立台灣大學陳端容教授領導的研究團隊發現，移民媽媽對台灣學童的飲食行為影響深遠，尤其是情緒性飲食的習慣，而背後的關鍵因素可能是「健康素養」和「餵養方式」。研究指出，外籍媽媽的孩子在情緒性飲食行為得分上（5.73）高於本地媽媽的孩子（5.35）。這意味著，這些孩子更容易因壓力或焦慮而轉向食物尋求安慰。這個現象背後，外籍媽媽的健康素養與育兒習慣成了關鍵。外籍媽媽可能常以食物作為「獎勵」或「壓力工具」，像是「吃了就給你玩具」或「不吃完就不能離開桌子」的模式。這種餵養方式雖然看似解決了孩子的吃飯問題，卻無形中削弱了對飲食行為的正向引導，增加了孩子情緒性飲食的風險。研究團隊強調，移民媽媽的健康素養偏低是影響餵養方式的重要原因。如果能為移民家庭設計貼合文化的健康教育與心理支持，幫助媽媽們提升健康知識，不僅能改善家庭氛圍，也能讓孩子遠離情緒性飲食的陷阱。陳端容教授呼籲，公衛政策應融入文化敏感性，推出專屬移民家庭的教育與支持服務，讓這些家庭不僅適應新環境，更能迎來健康生活。
Background
Emotional eating has been linked to childhood obesity. A variety of emotions often trigger this form of eating, which has been associated with stress-induced overeating, loss of control eating, and binge eating in children. However, research on how maternal immigration status and feeding practices influence emotional eating in children within Asian contexts is sparse. This study examines the association between maternal immigration status and emotional eating in children, exploring the mediating roles of health literacy and feeding practices.
Methods
The study focused on children aged 10-11 and their mothers in Taiwan, utilizing a sample of 2,308 mother-child dyads. The Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) was used to assess mothers' feeding practices, while emotional eating was measured using a subscale of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-Revised 18 (TFEQ-R18). Health literacy was evaluated using the Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q12). Confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson’s correlation, and Structural Equation Models (SEMs) were employed to explore the potential pathways leading to children's emotional eating.
Results
Children of mothers with foreign nationality demonstrate higher emotional eating scores compared to those with native-born mothers (5.73 vs. 5.35, p = 0.04). These mothers also have significantly lower health literacy levels (35.21 vs. 38.52, p < 0.0001). They are more inclined to use rewarding and pressure-to-eat feeding practices while showing reduced tendencies toward monitoring and restriction. Serial mediation models suggest that maternal foreign nationality influences children's emotional eating primarily by increasing rewarding and pressure-to-eat practices alongside reduced health literacy, which ultimately lowers monitoring practices.
Conclusions
Interventions should improve maternal health literacy and promote healthy feeding practices. Future research should investigate these pathways across various geographic regions and age groups to develop targeted interventions for immigrant families.
Keywords
Immigration; Health Literacy; Feeding Practice; Emotional Eating Behaviors
