Eating in the absence of hunger and overweight in girls from 5 to 7 y of age

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 76; no. 1; pp. 226 - 231
• Main Authors: Fisher, Jennifer Orlet, Birch, Leann L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Clinical Nutrition 01.07.2002; American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc
• Subjects: Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Body Weight; Child; child nutrition; Child, Preschool; childhood; Diet; Eating; Eating - psychology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Girls; Humans; Hunger; lunch; overweight; Parents; psychology; risk; snack foods; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Weight control; Human; Hunger; Feeding behavior; School age; Diet; Food intake; Risk factor; Female; Child; Feeding; Overweight
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/76.1.226

Eating when exposed to large portions of palatable foods in the absence of hunger has been suggested to contribute to overweight. This research evaluated whether young girls' eating in the absence of hunger was stable across a 2-y period in middle childhood, was associated with an increased risk of overweight, and could be predicted by parents' use of restriction in child feeding. The participants were 192 non-Hispanic white girls and their parents, assessed when the girls were 5 and 7 y of age. The girls' eating when exposed to palatable foods in the absence of hunger was measured after they consumed a standard lunch and indicated that they were no longer hungry. Eating in the absence of hunger showed moderate stability across the 2-y period for most of the girls. The girls who ate large amounts of snack foods in the absence of hunger at 5 and 7 y of age were 4.6 times as likely to be overweight at both ages. Parents' reports of restricting their daughter's access to foods at age 5 y predicted girls' eating in the absence of hunger at age 7 y, even when the girls' weight status and eating in the absence of hunger at age 5 y were controlled for. This study provides the first evidence that young girls' eating in the absence of hunger may represent a stable phenotypic behavior of young overweight girls. In addition, these findings are consistent with previous work indicating that parents' restrictive feeding practices may contribute to this behavior.