Relationship of increased fruit/vegetable intake with reduced consumption of sweets: Psychological mechanisms and associated weight loss in women within behavioral obesity treatments

Abstract

Although an increase in fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in adults might result in reductions in their intake of sweets, there has been minimal direct testing of this. Women participated in 6-month community-based obesity treatment conditions where either their psychological skills development (n = 66) or knowledge regarding healthful eating and exercise (n = 39) was emphasized. Improvements in FV and sweets intake, eating-related self-regulation, self-efficacy for controlled eating, and negative mood were significantly more pronounced in the psychological skills group participants. Together, participants’ change in self-regulation, self-efficacy, and mood significantly mediated the relationship of their changes in FV and sweets. Within simple mediation analyses, participants’ changes in self-efficacy and negative mood were significant mediators, and their treatment group membership moderated effects on sweets. We provided suggestions for future treatments based on the present findings.

Disclosure statement

The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

Institutional Review Board approval was acquired prior to study start. Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants. Ethical requirements of the Declaration of Helsinki and American Psychological Association were upheld.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.