(17-07-06) Patterns in food intake correlate with BMI.

Periwal V, Chow CC.

NIDDK/LBM, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, United States.

Quantifying eating behavior may give clues to both the physiological and behavioral mechanisms behind weight regulation. We analyzed year-long dietary records of 29 stable weight subjects. The records showed wide daily variations of food intake. We computed the temporal auto-correlation and skewness of food intake mass, energy, carbohydrate, fat and protein. We also computed the cross-correlation coefficient between intake mass and intake energy. The mass of the food intake exhibited long-term trends that were positively skewed with wide variability among individuals. The average duration of the trends (p=0.003) and the skewness (p=0.006) of the food intake mass were significantly correlated with mean body mass index (BMI). We also found that the lower the correlation coefficient between the energy content and the mass of food intake, the higher the BMI. Our results imply that humans in neutral energy balance eating ad libitum exhibit a long-term positive bias in the food intake that operates partially through the mass of food eaten to defend against eating too little more vigorously than eating too much.

Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2006 Jun 13; [Epub ahead of print]

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