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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, and Latinos are at high risk of developing CVD. They have higher rates of some metabolic risk factors, such as obesity ans diabetes. Dysfunctional eating patterns may influence these risk factors. This is the first study to look at dysfunctional eating patterns among Latinos, and the relationship with risk factors for CVD. The specific eating patterns examined were Emotional Eating (EE), or eating in response to emotions, not hunger cues; Uncontrolled Eating (UE), or eating when not hungry, or losing control of eating; and Cognitive Restraint (CR), or restricting food to lose or control weight.
Among Latinos, dysfunctional eating patterns were associated with increasing the odds of having metabolic risk factors for heart disease, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
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The Prevention Research Center at UMass Chan Medical School is a member of the Prevention Research Centers Program, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cooperative agreement number 6-U48-DP-006381.