To determine whether children exposed to a greater variety of acts of parent-to-child physical and psychological maltreatment will be at greater risk of consuming obesogenic foods at a higher frequency.

Survey research using a longitudinal panel design.

In-home interviews with primary caregivers in twenty large US cities.

A national sample of at-risk children and their families who participated in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS).

Child maltreatment emerged as a statistically significant (P<0·01) and robust predictor of obesogenic food consumption, in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Child maltreatment also consistently emerged as one of the strongest predictors of obesogenic food consumption in these models. Ancillary analyses indicated that physical maltreatment plays a particularly important role in these associations.

A major implication of the present study is that child maltreatment prevention efforts should be reflected in interventions that seek to diminish unhealthy eating practices among children. Multi-professional teams can work together on obesity prevention not only via education but also by considering the interconnectedness of obesogenic food consumption and experiences of maltreatment.

To identify key predictors of fast-food consumption from a range of demographic, attitudinal, personality and lifestyle variables.

We analysed data from a nationwide survey (n = 20 527) conducted in Australia by Nielsen Media Research. Items assessing frequency of fast-food consumption at (1) eat in and (2) take away were regressed onto 12 demographic, seven media consumption, and 23 psychological and lifestyle variables, the latter derived from factor analysis of responses to 107 attitudinal and behavioural items.

Stepwise multiple regression analyses explained 29.6% of the variance for frequency of take-away and 9.6% of the variance for frequency of eat-in consumption of fast foods. Predictors of more frequent consumption of fast food at take away (and, to a lesser extent, eat in) included lower age – especially under 45 years, relative indifference to health consequences of behaviour, greater household income, more exposure to advertising, greater receptiveness to advertising, lesser allocation of time for eating, and greater allocation of time to home entertainment. There were no effects for occupational status or education level.

The effects for age suggest that fast-food take-away consumption is associated with a general cultural shift in eating practices; individual differences in attitudinal and lifestyle characteristics constitute additional, cumulative, predictive factors. The role of advertising and the reasons for the lesser explanatory value of the eat-in models are important targets for further research.

To review the literature examining associations between environmental factors, energy and fat intakes among adults, and to identify issues for future research.

Literature searches of studies published between 1980 and 2004 were conducted in major databases (i.e. PubMed, Human Nutrition, Web of Science, PsychInfo, Sociofile). Additional articles were located by citation tracking.

Twenty-one articles met the inclusion criteria. No study provided a clear conceptualisation of how environmental factors may influence these dietary intakes. Availability, social, cultural and material aspects of the environment were relatively understudied compared with other factors such as seasonal/day of the week variation and work-related factors. Few studies examined the specific environmental factors implicated in the obesity epidemic, and there was little study replication. All studies were observational and cross-sectional.

It is too premature to conclude whether or not environmental factors play a role in obesogenic and unhealthy dietary intakes. More studies need to examine associations with those environmental factors thought to contribute to obesogenic environments. There needs to be more development in theories that conceptualise the relationship between environmental factors and dietary intakes.