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. 2022 Nov 2;22(1):2009.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-14384-2.

Snacking for a reason: detangling effects of socio-economic position and stress on snacking behaviour

Marleen Gillebaart  1 , Caroline Schlinkert  2 , Maartje P Poelman  3 , Jeroen S Benjamins  2 , Denise T D De Ridder  2
Affiliations

Snacking for a reason: detangling effects of socio-economic position and stress on snacking behaviour

Marleen Gillebaart et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: As snacking can be considered a cornerstone of an unhealthy diet, investigating psychological drivers of snacking behaviour is urgent, and therefore the purpose of this study. Socio-economic position (SEP) and stress are known to affect many behaviours and outcomes, and were therefore focal points in the study.

Methods: In a cross-sectional survey study, we examined whether Socio-economic position (SEP) would amplify associations between heightened stress levels and self-reported negative-affect related reasons for snacking. Next, we investigated whether Socio-economic position (SEP) predicted frequency of snacking behaviour, and how stress and other reasons for snacking could explain this association. Outcome measures were reasons people indicated for snacking, and frequency of snacking behaviour.

Results: Analyses revealed that people seem to find more reasons to snack when they are stressed, and that this association was more pronounced for people with a high compared to low socio-economic position. Furthermore, a higher socio-economic position was associated with a higher frequency of snacking, and both snacking to reward oneself and snacking because of the opportunity to do so remained significant mediators.

Conclusion: Whereas low socio-economic position was associated with higher stress levels, this did not translate into increased snacking. Contrarily, those with higher socio-economic position could be more prone to using 'reasons to snack', which may result in justification of unhealthy snacking behaviour.

Keywords: COVID-19 related worry; Life stress; Reasons for snacking; Snacking behaviour; Socio-economic position.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Parallel mediation model to explain the association between SEP and frequency of unhealthy snacking behaviour. Solid arrows are significant associations, dashed arrows are non-significant pathways, and the bold arrows show the significant indirect mediation effects
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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