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Social nature of eating could explain missing link between food insecurity and childhood obesity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2017

Jutta Mata ,
Mattea Dallacker  and
Ralph Hertwig
Jutta Mata
Affiliation:
Health Psychology, Department of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, 68161 Mannheim, Germany mata@uni-mannheim.de http://gesundheitspsychologie.uni-mannheim.de/english/Home/ Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany. dallacker@mpib-berlin.mpg.de hertwig@mpib-berlin.mpg.de https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/staff/mattea-dallacker https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/staff/ralph-hertwig
Mattea Dallacker
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany. dallacker@mpib-berlin.mpg.de hertwig@mpib-berlin.mpg.de https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/staff/mattea-dallacker https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/staff/ralph-hertwig
Ralph Hertwig
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany. dallacker@mpib-berlin.mpg.de hertwig@mpib-berlin.mpg.de https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/staff/mattea-dallacker https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/staff/ralph-hertwig
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Abstract

We suggest that social factors are key to explain the missing link between food insecurity and obesity in children. Parents and public institutions are children's nutritional gatekeepers. They protect children from food insecurity by trimming down their consumption or by institutional support. To gauge children's food insecurity, evaluations across the different nutritional gatekeepers need to be integrated.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e122
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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