A growing body of research indicates that one's early life experiences may play an important role in regulating patterns of energy intake in adulthood. In particular, adults who grew up under conditions characterized by low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to eat in the absence of hunger (EAH), a pattern that is not generally observed among higher-SES individuals. In the current study, we sought to examine (a) the environmental correlates of low SES that drive the association between low childhood SES and EAH and (b) whether the relationship between these variables is already manifest in children ages 3-14. Results of our study revealed that growing up in low-SES environments predicted less food security, diminished ability to meet financial needs, and less environmental predictability/safety. Further, the results indicated that reduced environmental predictability/safety in the children's environment interacted with children's current energy need to predict eating behavior. Consistent with patterns observed in adults, children from more predictable/safe environments ate food commensurate with their energy need, whereas those from less predictable/safe environments ate comparably high amounts of food across levels of energy need. These results offer needed insights into the development of environmentally-contingent energy-regulation strategies.

中文翻译：

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3-14 岁儿童的低社会经济地位和在没有饥饿的情况下进食

越来越多的研究表明，一个人的早期生活经历可能在调节成年期能量摄入模式方面发挥重要作用。特别是，在社会经济地位 (SES) 低的条件下长大的成年人倾向于在没有饥饿 (EAH) 的情况下进食，这种模式在社会经济地位较高的个体中通常不会观察到。在当前的研究中，我们试图检查 (a) 驱动低儿童 SES 与 EAH 之间关联的低 SES 的环境相关性，以及 (b) 这些变量之间的关系是否已经在 3-14 岁儿童中显现出来。我们的研究结果表明，在低 SES 环境中成长预示着粮食安全性降低、满足财务需求的能力降低以及环境可预测性/安全性降低。更多，结果表明，儿童环境中环境可预测性/安全性的降低与儿童当前预测饮食行为的能量需求相互作用。与在成人中观察到的模式一致，来自更可预测/安全环境的儿童吃的食物与其能量需求相称，而来自不太可预测/安全环境的儿童在不同的能量需求水平上吃的食物量相对较高。这些结果为环境或然能源调节策略的发展提供了必要的见解。而那些来自不太可预测/安全环境的人在不同的能量需求水平上吃的食物量相对较高。这些结果为环境或然能源调节策略的发展提供了必要的见解。而那些来自不太可预测/安全环境的人在不同的能量需求水平上吃的食物量相对较高。这些结果为环境或然能源调节策略的发展提供了必要的见解。