Ecological predictors of daily dietary intake in black adolescents with overweight and obesity in the families improving together (FIT) for weight loss trial.

Authors

Taylor R White, Dawn K Wilson, Sonali Tucker, Allison Sweeney

Published in

Journal of behavioral medicine. Jul 01, 2026. Epub Jul 01, 2026.

Abstract

Healthful eating habits (i.e., increased fruit and vegetable and decreased hyperpalatable energy-dense food and drink consumption) are important for preventing chronic disease risk (e.g., obesity) and improving overall health in Black adolescents.This study examines the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors associated with daily dietary intake in Black adolescents with overweight and obesity. Baseline data were analyzed from 241 Black parent-adolescent dyads who participated in the Families Improving Together (FIT) for Weight Loss trial (Adolescent: Mage = 12.8 years, SD = 1.8; 63% female; MBMI% = 96.6, SD = 4.3). Intrapersonal factors included dietary motivation. Interpersonal factors included social support for diet from family. Environmental factors included access to food in the home. Dietary outcomes were measured using validated adolescent self-reported surveys. Separate multiple linear regressions revealed several associations between ecological factors and daily food intake. Greater access to more-healthful foods was associated with increased daily vegetable intake (β = 0.18, SE = 0.08, p < .05), whereas greater access to less-healthful foods was associated with increased daily fruit intake (β = 0.24, SE = 0.08, p < .05). Greater access to less-healthful foods was associated with increased daily energy-dense food intake (β = 0.75, SE = 0.10, p < .001), whereas increased self-reported dietary motivation was associated with decreased daily energy-dense food intake (β = -0.24, SE = 0.10, p < .05). Greater access to less-healthful foods (β = 1.48, SE = 0.23, p < .001) and higher adolescent BMI (β = 0.84, SE = 0.40, p < .05) was also associated with increased sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. These findings suggest that access to more-healthful foods is associated with greater vegetable intake, while restricting access to less-healthful foods and increased motivation for more healthful eating were associated with lower sugar-sweetened beverage and energy-dense food consumption among Black adolescents. These findings may inform future health promotion programs across various ecological levels of dietary behaviors in Black youth with overweight and obesity.

PMID:
42384157
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 01 Jul 2026.

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