Objective and Subjective Eating Speeds Are Related to Body Composition and Shape in Female College Students

Abstract

Summary Eating speed reportedly relates to body composition and shape. Little is known about the relationship between the objectively assessed eating speed and the body composition and shape. This study examined relationships between eating speed as assessed both objectively and subjectively, and body composition and shape. The following variables of body composition and shape were measured in 84 female college students: body mass, relative body fat mass (%Fat), body mass index (BMI), and circumferences of the waist, abdomen and hip. After measuring the body composition and shape, subjects consumed a 174-kcal salmon rice ball. The following chewing variables were measured by observing videotape recordings of the subjects' faces: number of chews per bite, total number of chews, total meal duration, number of bites, and chewing rate. The subjects were categorized into three groups (fast, moderate and slow) according to their own subjective assessments of the actual eating speed. In objective assessments of the eating speed, the total number of chews and the total meal duration were significantly negatively correlated with the body mass, %Fat, BMI, and circumferences of the waist, abdomen and hip. In subjective eating-speed assessments, the body mass, %Fat, BMI, and circumferences of the waist, abdomen and hip were greater in the fast eating group than in the slow eating group. Both the objectively and subjectively assessed eating speeds are related to the body composition and shape. The present study supports that fast eating may relate to gains in body mass and/or fat mass. Key Words body composition, eating speed, mastication, meal duration Overweight and obesity have become one of the public health issues disseminating worldwide: the global obesity pandemic (1). The presence of overweight and obesity increases the incidence rates of many health problems, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, and some cancers (2). Strategies for effectively preventing the spread of overweight and obesity are therefore urgently needed.Slow eating, which involves chewing food slowly and thoroughly, is an effective strategy for preventing overweight and obesity, with many previous studies having found eating speed to be related to the body composition and shape (3-18). However, these studies were limited by their use of questionnaires to assess the eating speed. While questionnaires make it easy to survey eating speeds in large samples, it is unclear whether such subjective assessments of eating speed actually reflect actual eating speeds. Objective assessments of the eating speed are therefore necessary for reliably investigating the relationships between the eating speed and the body composition and shape.To the best of our knowledge, only one study has objectively assessed the eating speed (19); those authors found that the total numbers of chews and the total meal duration were significantly correlated with the body mass index (BMI). Both males and females were included in that study, whereas H...

Eating Speed, Eating Frequency, and Their Relationships with Diet Quality, Adiposity, and Metabolic Syndrome, or Its Components

“…The year of publication spanned from 1964 to 2020. Nine studies (one study explored both eating speed/rate and eating frequency) included only children [ 4 , 12 , 14 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 ] one was based on children and adolescents (≤19 years-old) [ 51 ], two articles involved only adolescents [ 25 , 29 ], four articles recruited children, adolescents and young adults [ 10 , 15 , 17 , 32 ] and finally, 36 articles included only adults [ 2 , 5 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 16 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , ...…”

“…Seven articles examined BMI, six looked at WC, and one assessed body weight. Hamada et al [ 53 ] studied the speed of eating, subjectively (self-reported) and objectively (total number of chews, number of chews per bite, total meal duration, number of bites, chewing rate). They observed significant inverse correlations between total number of chews and total meal duration with body weight, BMI, waist circumference and abdominal obesity [ 53 ].…”

“…Hamada et al [ 53 ] studied the speed of eating, subjectively (self-reported) and objectively (total number of chews, number of chews per bite, total meal duration, number of bites, chewing rate). They observed significant inverse correlations between total number of chews and total meal duration with body weight, BMI, waist circumference and abdominal obesity [ 53 ]. Moreover, several authors reported significant associations between self-reported fast eating speed/rate and increased risk for abdominal obesity prevalence [ 19 , 53 , 55 ], BMI [ 13 , 18 , 20 , 52 , 54 ], and larger WC [ 52 , 54 ].…”

“…In adults self-reported faster eating speed was frequently associated with higher risk of overweight or obesity and larger WC [ 13 , 20 ] in cross-sectional studies but only overweight was associated with faster eating speed/rate in longitudinal studies [ 2 , 9 ]. However, an observational study reported positive partial correlations between objective eating speed with BMI, body weight, and WC [ 53 ]. Regarding eating frequency, inverse associations were reported in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies with adiposity indicators [ 74 , 75 ], except for a few observational and interventional studies that otherwise reported positive associations [ 16 , 64 , 72 ].…”

“…Secondly, drawing firm conclusions is difficult due to the great variability and heterogeneity between articles, the lack of consensus about eating speed/rate and eating frequency definitions, as well as differences in overweight or obesity definitions used for children. Third, eating speed/rate was explored, in the vast majority of studies, subjectively through self-reported questionnaires, which may not reflect true eating speed/rate [ 53 ]. Moreover, BMI was used frequently to assess adiposity despite its several limitations [ 91 ].…”