Abstract
This study is the first nationwide population survey to explore the association between
speed of eating and degree of obesity. The objective was to cross-sectionally examine
the relationship between self-reported speed of eating and body mass index (BMI; calculated
as kg/m2) in a nationally representative sample of New Zealand women. In May 2009, a sample
of 2,500 New Zealand women aged 40 to 50 years was randomly selected from the nationwide
electoral rolls. A 66% participation rate was achieved. Potential participants were
mailed a self-administered questionnaire containing questions on self-reported speed
of eating, demographics, health conditions, menopause status, physical activity, height,
and weight. Univariate models were used to examine the associations between demographic,
health and behavioral variables, and BMI, while a multivariate model was developed
to investigate the relationship between self-reported speed of eating and BMI. After
adjusting for age, smoking status, menopause status, thyroid condition, ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, and physical activity, BMI statistically significantly increased
by 2.8% (95% confidence interval: 1.5% to 4.1%; P<0.001) for each category increase in self-reported speed of eating. Although the
direction of causality requires confirmation in longitudinal and randomized intervention
studies, the results suggest that faster eating is associated with higher BMI in middle-aged
women.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Methodological studies on single meal food intake characteristics in normal weight and obese men and women.Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1995; 19: 284-290
- Restrained eating, obesity, and cumulative food intake curves during four course meals.Appetite. 1991; 16: 149-158
- Laboratory eating behavior in obesity.Appetite. 2007; 49: 399-404
- Rate of intake, bites, and chews—The interpretation of lean-obese differences.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2000; 24: 229-237
- Eating rate of commonly consumed foods promotes food and energy intake.Appetite. 2011; 56: 25-31
- Eating slowly led to decreases in energy intake within meals in healthy women.J Am Diet Assoc. 2008; 108: 1186-1191
- Objective measurement of eating rate during behavioral treatment of obesity.Behav Ther. 1991; 22: 61-67
- Bite size, ingestion rate, and meal size in lean and obese women.Appetite. 1993; 21: 131-145
- Independent effects of palatability and within-meal pauses on intake and appetite ratings in human volunteers.Appetite. 1997; 29: 61-76
- Predictors of weight increases over 7 years in fire fighters and paramedics.Prev Med. 1996; 25: 593-600
- Self-reported rate of eating correlates with body mass index in 18-y-old Japanese women.Int J Obes. 2003; 27: 1405-1410
- Eating fast leads to obesity: Findings based on self-administered questionnaires among middle-aged Japanese men and women.J Epidemiol. 2006; 16: 117-124
- The joint impact on being overweight of self reported behaviors of eating quickly and eating until full: cross sectional survey.Br Med J. 2008; 337: a2002
- Associations between obesity, breakfast-time food habits and intake of energy and nutrients in a group of elderly Madrid residents.J Am Coll Nutr. 1996; 15: 65-72
- Rate of eating and body weight in patients with type 2 diabetes or hyperlipidaemia.J Int Med Res. 2002; 30: 442-444
- New Zealand Food: New Zealand People.Ministry of Health, Wellington, New Zealand1999
- Patterns and demographic predictors of 5-year weight change in a multi-ethnic cohort of men and women in Australia.Public Health Nutr. 2003; 6: 269-280
- Mail and Internet Surveys.John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ2007
- Census 2006.Statistics New Zealand, Wellington, NZ2006
- Fifth Survey for Mid-Age Women.The Research Institute for Gender and Health, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia2007
- The Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA) among older adults.Prev Chronic Dis. 2006; 3: 1-8
- New Zealand Socioeconomic Index 1996, Users' Guide.Statistics New Zealand, Wellington, NZ2003
- Diabetes trends in the US: 1990-1998.Diabetes Care. 2000; 23: 1278-1283
- Midlife body mass index and hospitalization and mortality in older age.J Am Med Assoc. 2006; 295: 190-198
- Physical activity and changes in weight and waist circumference in midlife women: Findings from the study of women's health across the nation.Am J Epidemiol. 2004; 160: 912-922
- Preventing weight gain: A population cohort study of the nature and effectiveness of a mid-age woman's weight control practices.Int J Obes. 2007; 31: 978-986
- Worksite environment intervention to prevent obesity among metropolitan transit workers.Prev Med. 2010; 50: 180-185
- The Healthy Worker Project: A work-site intervention for weight control and smoking cessation.Am J Public Health. 1993; 83: 395-401
- An exploratory study of a meditation-based intervention for binge eating disorder.J Health Psychol. 1999; 4: 357-363
- What should you know about mindful and intuitive eating?.J Am Diet Assoc. 2009; 109: 1982-1987
- Eat, Drink and Be Mindful.New Harbinger Publications, Inc, Oakland, CA2008
- Development and psychometric evaluation of a measure of intuitive eating.J Couns Psychol. 2006; 53: 226-240
- Enrolment Statistics.(Accessed February 15, 2010)
- Assessment of Self-Reported Height and Weight and Their Use in the Determination of Body Mass Index.Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, Australia1993
- Accuracy of self-reported height and weight in women: An integrative review of the literature.J Midwifery Womens Health. 2003; 48: 338-345
- Underestimation of relative weight by use of self-reported height and weight.Am J Epidemiol. 1987; 125: 122-126
- Accuracy and usefulness of BMI measures based on self-reported weight and height: Findings from the NHANES & NHIS 2001-2006.BMC Public Health. 2009; 9: 421-431
- Accuracy of body mass index estimated from self-reported height and weight in mid-aged Australian women.Aust NZ J Public Health. 2010; 34: 620-623
Biography
S. L. Leong is a research assistant and postgraduate student, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Biography
C. Madden is a research assistant and postgraduate student, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Biography
C. Horwath is a senior lecturer, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Biography
A. Gray is a biostatistician, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Biography
D. Waters is a senior lecturer, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 24,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
