Oral feeding behavior during a whole meal

Abstract

Eating is an instinctive behavior and a fundamental oral function for energy intake. However, the changes in the variables involved in intake volume and timedependent changes during a meal have yet to be sufficiently clarified. This study aimed to elucidate the changes in normal food intake behavior during a meal. We recruited 20 healthy females with normal body mass index. Food intake behavior and intake volume were recorded using a three-dimensional motion capture system and electric weighing instrument. We applied multilevel model analysis to describe fitting curves of the variables related to food intake. Correlations of these variables were also estimated. We described time-dependent statistically significant polynomial curves of variables during a meal. The mouthful weight and intake interval were not constant throughout the meal. The mouthful weight was larger at the beginning of the meal than at the end; the intake interval was the shortest at the start of a meal; it gradually increased until the 80% point. Most of the variables were statistically and strongly correlated with one another. The total intake time had a significantly high positive correlation with the number of mouthfuls, mouthful weight, intake interval, total chewing number, and mouthful chewing number; the total intake time had a significantly negative correlation with mouthful weight. We established that in the healthy subjects, food intake behavior changed according to the consumed volume and with time. A small mouthful weight leads to a large number of mouthfuls, thereby extending the mealtime. These findings may be helpful in assessing eating behaviors toward proposing a behavioral strategy to control meal durations and eating rates.

Effect of Beta 2-Adrenergic Receptor Gly16Arg Polymorphism on Taste Preferences in Healthy Young Japanese Adults

“…Because the consumption of palatable foods is an instinctive behavior that is required for maintaining homeostasis, and may satisfy and relax individuals mentally [ 13 ], it is not easy to simply enact dietary restrictions for a long period of time in individuals to improve health. Therefore, it is essential to identify factors that mediate the control mechanisms of food preference (that affect food selection and energy metabolism) to increase our understanding of body weight control and the risk of developing chronic diseases, such as obesity [ 14 ], which will contribute to the development of individualized treatment strategies [ 15 ].…”

Association between Beta3-Adrenergic Receptor Trp64Arg Polymorphism and Fat Preference in Healthy Young Japanese Women

“…Excess energy intake is a major contributor to obesity (Pang et al 2016). However, because eating is an instinctive behavior that is necessary to maintain homeostasis and because it confers mental benefits including relaxation and satisfaction (Murakami et al 2017), it is difficult to maintain caloric restriction for a long time in individuals. Thus, it is important to clarify factors that are associated with the regulatory mechanisms of food preference (which drives food intake and energy balance) to develop novel dietary treatments that can be easily followed by individu-als.…”