Experiencing Food Restrictions for Health and Weight Control in Childhood and Their Links to Restrained Eating and Excessive Body Weight in Polish Young Adults—A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objectives: A better understanding of the conditions leading to overweight and obesity is fundamental due to the ever-increasing phenomenon of excess body weight. This study aimed to determine how the occurrence of restrained eating in young adulthood, food-restricted types, and food experiences related to food restrictions originating in childhood correlate with excessive body weight among young adults. Methods: The data were collected in Poland in 2020–2021 using a Computer-Assisted Web Interview technique as a cross-sectional study among 358 young adults. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, cross-tabulations, and logistic regression analysis were performed. Results: Restrictions associated with limiting intake of sugar-rich foods were more characteristic of those with normal body weight (52.7%) than those with excessive body weight (39.2%). Weak positive correlations were found between childhood experiences of weight control restrictions and restrained eating (0.222), using food restrictions (0.143), the number of restrictions (0.152), using restrictions on sugar (0.149), and food rich in fat (0.105) in early adulthood. Childhood food experiences related to weight control restrictions favored having excessive body weight in young adults by 53% after adjusting for sex and age. Conclusions: The results showed that it is advisable to develop interventions to increase parents’ awareness of the possible long-term consequences of practices related to controlling children’s eating behavior.