Influence of environmental factors on meal intake in overweight and normal-weight male adolescents. A laboratory study

摘要

Objective: To investigate the influence of environmental conditions on energy intake at lunch time in normal-weight versus overweight male adolescents. Design: Healthy 15-17. year-old adolescents (19 normal-weight, 19 overweight) participated in lunch tests under laboratory settings. Four conditions were compared: eating in groups, eating alone, eating alone while viewing television, eating alone while listening to music. The same menus (two solid foods, three drinks) were offered ad libitum. Results: Significant group differences between meal conditions were observed for energy intake from solid foods, but not from drinks: normal-weight participants ate more solids while listening to music (5731 ± 426. kJ) than when eating alone (5012 ± 364. kJ, P=0.026) or in groups (4974 ± 272. kJ, P=0.049), whereas overweight participants ate more solid foods while viewing television (5806 ± 330. kJ) than when eating in groups (5208 ± 201. kJ, P=0.014) or while listening to music (5288 ± 255. kJ, P=0.035). On average, total energy intake at lunch (solids plus liquids) was found to be increased only in the overweight when viewing television (8527 ± 535. kJ) compared to eating in group (7348 ± 445. kJ, P=0.037) or while listening to music (7532 ± 435. kJ, P=0.049). Conclusion: Environmental conditions modulate total energy intake at lunch in adolescents and susceptibility to external factors can be affected by weight status. Whether such effects can in turn affect energy balance and weight status remains to be investigated.