title: Secretive eating among youth with overweight or obesity.
abstract: Secretive eating, characterized by eating privately to conceal being seen, may reflect eating- and/or body-related shame, be associated with depression, and correlate with binge eating, which predicts weight gain and eating disorder onset. Increasing understanding of secretive eating in youth may improve weight status and reduce eating disorder risk. This study evaluated the prevalence and correlates of secretive eating in youth with overweight or obesity.
  
  
  
  Youth (N = 577) presented to five research/clinical institutions. Using a cross-sectional design, secretive eating was evaluated in relation to eating-related and general psychopathology via linear and logistic regression analyses.
  
  
  
  Secretive eating was endorsed by 111 youth, who were, on average, older than youth who denied secretive eating (mean age = 12.07 ± 2.83 versus 10.97 ± 2.31). Controlling for study site and age, youth who endorsed secretive eating had higher eating-related psychopathology and were more likely to endorse loss of control eating and purging than their counterparts who did not endorse secretive eating. Groups did not differ in excessive exercise or behavioral problems. Dietary restraint and purging were elevated among adolescents (≥13y) but not children (<13y) who endorsed secretive eating; depression was elevated among children, but not adolescents, who endorsed secretive eating.
  
  
  
  Secretive eating may portend heightened risk for eating disorders, and correlates of secretive eating may differ across pediatric development. Screening for secretive eating may inform identification of problematic eating behaviors, and understanding factors motivating secretive eating may improve intervention tailoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC 1000, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA. Electronic address: akass@yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Andrea E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Kass
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Box 8134, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Denise E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Wilfley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Kamryn T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Eddy
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0874, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Kerri N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Boutelle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, P.O. Box 3842, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zucker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, F282/2A West, 2450 Riverside Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA.
authors.forename: Carol B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 245, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Le Grange
authors.affiliation: Eating Disorders Center at the Evidence Based Treatment Centers of Seattle, 1200 5th Avenue, Suite 800, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Guthrie Hall (GTH), 119A 98195-1525, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Celio-Doyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center/The Miriam Hospital, 196 Richmond Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Goldschmidt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D017195:Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000367:Age Factors; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D019959:Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012306:Risk; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Binge eating; Eating behavior; Obesity; Overweight; Pediatric; Psychosocial