Speedy eaters pack on extra pounds - study

According to the researchers at the University of Otago, New Zealand, middle-aged women who eat their meals voraciously are more likely to be overweight or obese than those who eat at a slower pace.

The study
To gauge if there existed a relationship between a women’s speed of eating and her body mass index (BMI), the researchers enrolled over 1,500 women aged between 40 and 50.

The participants were required to self-rate their speed of eating on a five-point scale ranging from 'very slow' eating to 'very fast' eating.
While half of the women considered themselves as normal eaters, 32 percent featured high on the speed-of-eating scale vis-à-vis only 15 percent who described themselves as slow or very slow eaters.

The findings of the study
The women at the slowest end of the scale reportedly had the lowest body mass index (BMI), researchers reveal.

Moreover, with each point increase in the women’s speed of eating, the BMI increased by 2.8 percent.

“For every one-step increase in a five-step scale ranging from ‘very slow’ eating to ‘very fast’, the women’s BMI increased by 2.8 percent, which is equivalent to a 1.95 kg weight increase in a woman of average BMI for this group,” cited study’s lead researcher Dr Caroline Horwath.

“The size of the association found in this initial research suggests that if there is a causal link, reduction in eating speed is a very promising way to prevent weight gain and may lead to decreases in BMI similar or greater than those sustained in weight management programmes,” she added.

But more research in the area is required, Horwath averred.

The findings of the study are published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.