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By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD Apr 28 2023 Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM

A recent study published in the Appetite Journal examined how maternal mood, body image, and eating concerns were related to perceived changes in feeding practices during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Study:  Maternal mood, body image, and eating habits predict changes in feeding practices during the COVID-19 pandemic . Image Credit: Emituu/Shutterstock.com Background

With the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many profound changes occurred in the normal lifestyle of people around the world.

This included business, workplace, school, sporting, and shopping activities. The feeding of children is another area that was impacted by pandemic-related changes to the mother's pattern of activity.

Using data from an online mothers' study, a recent study looked at how mood changes and the mother's body image were linked to changes in feeding practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Introduction

Prior research shows that the way children are habitually fed is deeply influenced by the parent's eating habits and emotions associated with eating.

In particular, when parents eat for comfort or restrict their food intake despite feeling hungry, they practice eating patterns unlinked to their internal hunger or satiety signals. This, in turn, is associated with similar non-responsive child feeding patterns. Importantly, these are reflected with adverse impacts on the parent's and child's mental and physical health and the child's future eating habits.

Eating is a behavior designed to respond to hunger or satiety. The study explored three other types: emotional eating, in response to strong emotions; external eating, in response to food availability or other external cues; and restrained eating, where food intake is voluntarily reduced.

Body image is a powerful source of disordered eating behaviors in mothers. Maternal stress and negative moods may also trigger altered child-feeding practices. The pandemic was unquestionably associated with increased anxiety and stress among parents, with work-childcare conflicts being more likely to arise due to the shift of both workplace and education to the home. Related StoriesIs there an association between COVID-19 and the risk of developing an autoimmune disease?Vaccine component BNT162b4 enhances T-cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants for reduced COVID-19 disease severityIs there an association between post COVID-19 syndrome and cognitive impairment?

In the current study, the scientists aimed to understand how these three factors – the mother's mood, body image, and eating habits, were linked to differences in child-feeding practices. These included non-responsive feedings, such as a behavioral reward, overt or covert restrictions, and meal structure.

The data came from an online questionnaire sent to 137 mothers. They were asked to describe their eating habits, mood, satisfaction with their body, and whether they had non-responsive feeding practices during the pandemic and during the pre-pandemic years. What did the study show?

The study's results indicated that non-responsive feeding practices partially differed during the pandemic.

Mothers used food to incentivize desirable behavior among children more often during this period. There was a decline in formal place-setting practices at the same time.

Mothers with greater self-reported stress, anxiety, and/or depression were less satisfied with their bodies. These mothers also were more likely to restrict food access by the child.

They were more prone to restrained eating as well as emotional eating. This was observed both before and during the pandemic. Anxiety was linked to greater use of reward eating during the pandemic but not before.

Body image dissatisfaction was linked to greater restrictions on the food accessible to the child before and during the pandemic. These mothers also showed more restrained eating and more emotional eating.  

Mothers who tended to eat emotionally were more likely to show more non-responsive child-feeding behavior during and before the pandemic. Thus, they were more likely to use food as a reward for good behavior and to restrict food access by the child. The only behavior that did not change was the structured meal setting.

The impact of the pandemic was observed only in a greater incidence of using food to reward the child for eating among those mothers with greater depression, anxiety, and/or stress levels. Such mothers were also more likely to eat emotionally. What are the implications?

Despite the immense disruption caused by the pandemic, the observed effects on child feeding were restricted to increased laxity in meal settings and a greater tendency to reward children when they behaved as desired.

The latter was more common among mothers with anxiety, depression, and stress.

There was no relationship between maternal mood and meal setting, indicating that factors such as social distancing and other restrictions in place, along with their effect on the purchase, preparation, and timing of food for meals, were more important in this observed shift away from formal meals during the pandemic.

Poor body image did not appear to influence child-feeding practices, and mothers appeared to react in opposite ways to the lack of social interactions – with some eating more, while others reported poor appetite due to a negative mood.

In future periods with similar situations…

…resources to support mothers who are experiencing anxiety and distress should be available and include content targeting child feeding behaviors."

Further research on how the pandemic affected child feeding and eating over time is indicated. Moreover, these findings emphasize the need to monitor and support mental health during such periods. Journal reference:

Rodgers, R., Sereno, I. and Zimmerman, E. (2023) "Maternal mood, body image, and eating habits predict changes in feeding practices during the COVID-19 pandemic", Appetite, p. 106576. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106576. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666323001290.

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Science

Earth’s Oceans Enter Danger Zone Due to Rising Acidification, New Study Warns

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Earth’s Oceans Enter Danger Zone Due to Rising Acidification, New Study Warns

The oceans of Earth are in worse condition than it was, thought, said the scientists. This is because of the increased acidity levels that led the sea to enter the danger zone five years ago. As per the new study, oceans are more acidic by releasing carbon dioxide from industrial activities such as fossil fuel burning. This acidification of the oceans damages marine life and the ecosystem, in turn threatening the coastal human communities that are dependent on healthy waters for their life.

Oceans May Have Crossed the Danger Zone in 2020

In the study published on Monday, June 9, 2025, in the journal Global Change Biology, researchers have found that acidification is highly advanced tha it was considered in the previous years. Our oceans might have entered the danger zone in the year 2020. Previous research suggested that the oceans of Earth were approaching a danger zone for ocean acidification.

How Ocean Acidification Happens

Ocean acidification is driven by the absorption of ocean of excess CO2 into the ocean, which is rapidly contributing to the global crisis. CO2 dissolves in seawater, forming carbonic acid, lowering pH levels and invading the vital carbonate ions. This threatens the species in the water, such as corals and shellfish, which depend on calcium carbonate to build their skeletons and shells.

The Planetary Boundary May Be Breached

Recent research depicts that the ocean acidification levels may now be breached, crossing the previous estimate of a 19% aragonite decline from the previous industrial levels. Scientists are alarmed that this change could destabilise the ecosystems of marine and, in turn, the coastal economies. This is a ticking bomb with socioeconomic and environmental consequences.

Global Consequences of Acidification

The recent findings suggest that scientists have feared in the past. Ocean acidification has reached dangerous levels, exceeding the limit that is needed to maintain a healthy and stable environment. As critical habitats degrade, the rippling effects are expected to cause harm to biodiversity, impact food security for many of the people who depend on the oceans for their livelihood.

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Science

NASA Chandra Spots Distant X-Ray Jet; Telescope Faces Major Budget Cuts

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NASA Chandra Spots Distant X-Ray Jet; Telescope Faces Major Budget Cuts

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected an enormous X-ray jet from quasar J1610+1811, observed at a distance of about 11.6 billion light-years (roughly 3 billion years after the Big Bang). The jet spans over 300,000 light-years and carries particles moving at roughly 92–98% of the speed of light. It is visible in X-rays because high-energy electrons in the jet collide with the much denser cosmic microwave background at that epoch, boosting microwave photons into X-ray energies. These results were presented at the 246th AAS meeting and accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

Discovery of the Distant X-ray Jet

According to the study, Chandra’s high-resolution X-ray imaging, combined with radio data, allowed the team to isolate the jet at such a great distance. At the quasar’s distance (about 3 billion years after the Big Bang), the cosmic microwave background was much denser. As a result, relativistic electrons in the jet efficiently scatter CMB photons to X-ray energies. From the multiwavelength data the researchers infer that the jet’s particles are moving at roughly 0.92–0.98 c. Such near-light-speed outflows are among the fastest known.

These powerful jets carry enormous energy into intergalactic space and provide a unique probe of how black holes influenced their surroundings during the universe’s early “cosmic noon” era.

Chandra’s Future at Risk

However, the Chandra mission now faces possible defunding: NASA’s proposed budget calls for drastic cuts to its operating funds. For nearly 25 years, Chandra has been a cornerstone of X-ray astronomy, so its loss would constitute a major setback. The SaveChandra campaign warns that losing Chandra would be an “extinction-level event” for U.S. X-ray astronomy. Scientists warn that ending Chandra prematurely would cripple X-ray science.

Andrew Fabian commented Science magazine, “I’m horrified by the prospect of Chandra being shut down prematurely”. Elisa Costantini added in an interview with Science that if cuts proceed, “you will lose a whole generation ” and it will leave “a hole in our knowledge” of high-energy astrophysics. Without Chandra’s capabilities, many studies of the energetic universe would no longer be possible.

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Vietnam legalizes crypto under new digital technology law

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Vietnam legalizes crypto under new digital technology law

Vietnam legalizes crypto under new digital technology law

Vietnam has passed a sweeping digital technology law that legalizes crypto assets and outlines incentives for AI, semiconductors, and infrastructure.

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