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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Steph Scott, Dr Frances Hillier-Brown, Natalie Connor, Professor Dorothy Newbury-Birch, Louisa Jane Ells
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Excess body weight and risky alcohol consumption are two of the greatest contributors to global disease. Alcohol use contributes directly and indirectly to weight gain. Health behaviours cluster in adolescence and track to adulthood. This review identified and synthesised qualitative research to provide insight into common underlying factors influencing alcohol use and unhealthy eating behaviours amongst young people aged 10–17. Sixty two studies met inclusion criteria. Twenty eight studies focused on alcohol; 34 focused on eating behaviours. Informed by principles of thematic analysis and meta-ethnography, analysis yielded five themes: (1) use of alcohol and unhealthy food to overcome personal problems; (2) unhealthy eating and alcohol use as fun experiences; (3) food, but not alcohol, choices are based on taste; (4) control and restraint; and (5) demonstrating identity through alcohol and food choices. Young people faced pressure, reinforced by industry, to eat and drink in very specific ways, with clear social consequences if their attitudes or behaviour were deemed unacceptable. No qualitative studies were identified with an explicit and concurrent focus on adolescent eating behaviours and alcohol consumption. Further exploratory work is needed to examine the links between food and alcohol in young people’s emotional, social and cultural lives.
Author(s): Scott S, Elamin W, Giles EL, Hillier-Brown F, Byrnes K, Connor N, Newbury-Birch D, Ells L
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Nutrients
Year: 2019
Volume: 11
Issue: 8
Online publication date: 15/08/2019
Acceptance date: 12/08/2019
Date deposited: 21/08/2020
ISSN (print): 2072-6643
Publisher: MDPI AG
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081914
DOI: 10.3390/nu11081914
PubMed id: 31443229
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