(P19-009-23) The Nutritional Content of Comfort Foods in the United States: Results From the Census-Matched “Eating in America” Study

Objectives: Comfort eating or eating in response to negative stimuli/affect is a prevalent health behavior. “Comfort foods” are assumed to be energy dense and highly palatable, but little research has empirically examined the nutritional content of these foods or identified demographic differences.

Methods: Through the UCLA Eating in America Study, U.S. census-matched respondents (n=1,760) were asked to list their top three comfort foods as part of a Qualtrics-administered survey that also assessed information on comfort eating and demographics. Foods generated from the listing were coded for nutrient content (total calories, total/saturated fat, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, sodium) per 100g and common serving size by two trained raters using the USDA What’s in the Foods You Eat online tool or external brand sites if needed. Each food was also rated on perceived healthiness, comfortability, “guiltiness”, and if it was a meal or snack-type food by at least nine raters. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each of the foods overall and by demographic (e.g., gender, age, race/ethnicity, income, education) and health (e.g., BMI) factors. ANOVA and chi-square tests assessed differences by demographic/health factors. Nutritional content analyses will categorize foods based on % daily values (DV) as being high ( >20% DV), moderate, or low ( < 5% DV) sources of nutrients. Qualitative rating analyses will compare perceptions by demographic/health factors. This study was pre-registered on Open Science Framework (OSF).

Results: Preliminary analyses identified N=298 unique food/beverage items/combinations as “comfort foods.” The top 10 foods identified were chips, ice cream, pizza, chocolate, cookies, candy, cake, burgers, cheese, and pasta. Top comfort foods significantly differed by gender, age group, race/ethnicity, and BMI weight classification (all p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: Top comfort foods in the U.S. vary broadly and by certain demographic/health factors, though converge on similar foods. Forthcoming analyses on how comfort foods map onto %DVs for key nutrients and are perceived on key indicators could inform efforts to guide more healthful comfort food selection in response to stress.

Funding Sources: Not applicable