Submitted to: Appetite
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/6/2025
Publication Date: 5/7/2025
Citation: Tacad, D., Kamil, B., Keim, N.L. 2025. 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. Appetite. 213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2025.108048.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2025.108048

Interpretive Summary: Eating behavior characteristics of individuals may be related to the food they choose to eat but little research has been done to determine if certain characteristics might actually promote healthful diets. This study of healthy men and women demonstrated that women had diets that were higher in quality than men, and, on the other hand, wanted foods that were sweet and high in fat. In both men and women, when food choice was motivated by health concerns, natural content of foods, or ethical concerns, both sexes ate higher quality diets and more vegetables. Knowledge of eating behavior characteristics is an important key to understanding how to provide more personalized nutrition education and nudge an individual toward more healthy eating.

Technical Abstract: There is great interest in characterizing eating behavior traits that impact an individual’s nutritional status and susceptibility to developing diet-related chronic diseases. The aim of our study is to determine how certain eating behavior characteristics are related to dietary intake in adult men and women. Eating behavior was measured in 329 adults from a cross-sectional study using the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire, the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire, and the Food Choice Questionnaire. Dietary intakes were measured by three diet recalls, and diet quality was determined using the 2015 Healthy Eating Index (HEI). Clustering of dietary variables by partial least squares regression analysis yielded ten clusters of which three were related to eating behavior. The cluster defined by vegetable intake and a second cluster defined by diet quality included behavioral variables of health concern, natural content of foods, and ethical concerns for both sexes. In males, cognitive restraint and wanting of high-fat, sweet foods were also influential, while price and convenience were significant for females. Our data suggests the associations between eating behaviors , and dietary intake/quality yield some differences by sex.