Structure of family health and its association with obesity-related eating behavior and depressive symptoms: Insights from network analysis

Appetite. 2025 Mar 29:107985. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2025.107985. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The health of families is inextricably linked to the health of individuals and communities, providing the foundation for their development. Family health is a multifaceted concept and has been suggested to impact individuals’ obesity-related eating behavior and the alleviation of depressive symptoms. However, existing studies have not comprehensively examined the structure of family health and its’ potential associations with obesity-related eating behavior and depressive symptoms. The present study employed network analysis to ascertain the most pivotal characteristics within the interdisciplinary and holistic concept of family health. In addition, this study investigated the moderating effect of family health on the association between obesity-related eating behavior and depressive symptoms, and identified the characteristics of family health that were the most strongly linked to the association. A total of 9,091 adults participated in this nationally representative study between 10 July and 15 September 2021. The participants completed self-report assessments of family health, obesity-related eating behavior, and depressive symptoms. The results of network analysis indicated that helping each other in seeking health care services when needed (such as making physician’s appointments) had the highest node expected influence (1.154) within the network. The results of moderation analysis showed that family health significantly buffered the association between obesity-related eating behavior and depressive symptoms (B = -0.06, 95% CI = -0.074, -0.039). Further investigation demonstrated that not trusting doctors and other health professionals in the family presented the strongest negative correlation (-0.125) with obesity-related eating behavior, and not having adequate housing in the family showed the strongest negative correlation (-0.069) with depressive symptoms. These findings provide further insight into the critical aspects of family health and its significant correlations with obesity-related eating behavior and depressive symptoms.

PMID:40164308 | DOI:10.1016/j.appet.2025.107985