The spontaneous intake of food, self-rated moods, and hunger of underweight women

• Published in: Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 191 - 204
• Main Authors: Heusel, Colleen, de Castro, John M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.02.1997; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Anorexia; apetito; appetit; appetite; Biological and medical sciences; body mass index; carbohidratos; carbohydrates; choix de la date; corps gras; delgadez; diet; dieta; dietary carbohydrate; dietary fat; dietary protein; dimension; dimensions; duracion; duration; duree; eating habits; Eating pattern; Eating restraint; eleccion de la epoca; energy intake; energy value; estimation; estomac; estomago; facteur psychologique; factores psicologicos; fats; feeding frequency; Feeding. Feeding behavior; femme; food intake; frecuencia de las comidas; frequence des repas; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; glucide; grasas; hunger; ingestion de alimentos; ingestion de nutrientes; ingestion de substances nutritives; Macronutrient intake; maigreur; Meal intake; meal patterns; mujeres; nutrient intake; pautas alimentarias; peso; poids; prise alimentaire homme; proteinas; proteine; proteins; psychological factors; psychosocial factors; regime alimentaire; satiety; schema alimentaire; stomach; thinness; timing; underweight; valeur energetique; valor energetico; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; weight; women; Macronutrient intake; Meal intake; Anorexia; Eating pattern; Eating restraint; Human; Hunger; Feeding behavior; Mood; Food intake; Low; Body weight; Meal; Female
• ISSN: 0271-5317; 1879-0739
• DOI: 10.1016/S0271-5317(96)00251-5

To investigate the effect of being underweight on food intake, the meal patterns of 66 normal weight women and 33 normal underweight women spontaneously eating in their natural environment were compared. Subjects reported everything they ate and drank, and their mood and hunger before and after eating for seven consecutive days. Caloric intakes were equivalent and, as a result, the underweight group ate significantly more per kg body weight than the normal weight groups. The factors normally associated with meal size and subjective hunger were equivalently correlated between groups. The normal weight women had significantly higher restraint scale scores and histories of significantly greater weight fluctuations than the underweight group. The underweight women appear to be unusual in that they are truly unrestrained eaters. It appears that underweight women are not at all like anorectic women in relation to food intake and that differences found in previous studies between control and anorectic women are due primarily to the disorder itself and not to low body weight.