Assessment of eating rate and food intake in spoon versus fork users in a laboratory setting

Abstract

a b s t r a c tAccumulating evidence show positive relationships between eating rate and body weight. Acute food intake is affected by eating rate, bite size, and palatability. The objective was to assess differences between participants who chose to use a spoon vs. fork in eating rate and food intake of four meals that differ in palatability (low vs. high salt) and in energy density (low vs. high fat). Forty-eight healthy adults (16 males, 18-54 y, BMI: 17.8-34.4 kg/m 2 ) were recruited. Participants attended four lunch time sessions after a standardised breakfast. Meals were either (1) low-fat/low-salt, (2) low-fat/high-salt, (3) high-fat/ low-salt, or (4) high-fat/high-salt. Nineteen participants (6 males) consistently used a fork and 21 (8 males) used a spoon, 8 participants were inconsistent in cutlery use and excluded from analyses. Spoon users had on average a higher BMI than fork users (p = 0.006). Effects of cutlery use, BMI status (BMI < 25 vs. BMI > 25), salt, and fat, and their interactions were assessed in a General Linear Model. Spoon users consumed faster (fork: 53 ± 2.8 g/min; spoon: 62 ± 2.1 g/min, p = 0.022) and tended to consume more (p = 0.09), whereas the duration of the meals were similar (fork: 6.9 ± 0.3 min; spoon: 6:7 ± 0.2 min, p = 0.55). BMI status affected both eating rate and food intake (p = 0.005). There were no significant two-way or three-way interactions between salt, fat, and cutlery use on eating rate or food intake. In conclusion, participants who chose to consume with forks ate slower compared to spoon users.

Cracker shape modifiesad libitumsnack intake of crackers with cheese dip

“…). This implies that taking smaller bite sizes slows down eating rate and reduces energy intake, in agreement with other studies (9,(34)(35)(36)38,39) . Although large differences were observed between different participants, dipping behaviour per participant remained relatively constant throughout a snacking session of 30 min.…”

“…Participants unconsciously consumed more cheese with flat-squared crackers than with finger-shape crackers and, most importantly, they do this without differences in self-reported fullness. This is in line with another study, which compared spoon and fork users, showing that spoon users ate faster leading to higher food intake than fork users, probably because more food fitted on a spoon than on a fork (34) . In general, larger bite sizes are associated with an underestimated, increased food intake by consumers (9,35,36) .…”

The effect of real-time vibrotactile feedback delivered through an augmented fork on eating rate, satiation, and food intake

“…Post-hoc analyses. In line with other studies on eating rate (e.g., Bolhuis & Keast, 2016), we also conceptualized eating rate as grams of food consumed per minute and average bite size (i.e. amount in grams consumed divided by total number of forks servings).…”

Combine nicely, consume wisely : The role of single food properties in oral processing behavior, intake and sensory perception of composite foods

“…Participants unconsciously consumed more cheese with flat square crackers than with finger-shape crackers and, most importantly, they do this without differences in self-reported fullness. This is in line with another study, which compared spoon and fork users, showing that spoon users ate faster leading to higher food intake than fork users, probably because more food fitted on a spoon than on a fork (Bolhuis & Keast 2016). In general, larger bite sizes are associated with an underestimated, increased food intake by consumers (Weijzen et al 2009;Zijlstra et al 2009;Bolhuis et al 2013).…”