Short-term regulation of food intake in children, young adults and the elderly

Objective: The present study investigated the effects of consuming preloads with different macronutrient and energy contents on subsequent intake and subjective feelings of hunger and satiety in children, young adults and the elderly. Subjects: 30 Children (4-6 y), 33 young adults (18-26 y) and 24 elderly (61 -86 y). Design: A 'preload test meal' design was applied. Subjects were given four different strawberry yoghurt preloads that varied in energy and macronutrie nt content, or no yoghurt. Children, young adults and elderly consumed 200, 340 and 300 g of the preload, respectively. One yoghurt was low-fat, low-c arbohydrate and low in energy (the control; 0.7 MJ/500 g serving), one yogh urt was high-fat and medium in energy (71% of energy (en%) of fat; 2 MJ/500 g serving), one yoghurt was high-carbohydrate and medium in energy (87 en% of carbohydrate; 2 MJ/500 g serving) and the fourth yoghurt was high-fat a nd high-carbohydrate and high in energy (42 en% of fat and 53 en% of carboh ydrate: 3 MJ/500 g serving). Ninety minutes after preload consumption, subj ects had an attractive ad libitum lunch-buffet. Energy intake at lunch and subjective feelings of hunger and satiety were analysed. Results: The ability to compensate at lunch did not differ among the three age groups. Compared to the no-preload condition, all children, young adult s and elderly ate significantly less after the high-fat and high-carbohydra te yoghurt. The energy compensation observed in the children ranged between - 21% and 34%, in the young adults between 15% and 44% and in the elderly between 17% and 23%. Hunger responses were clearly different between young adults and the elderly. Compared to the no-preload condition, the young adu lts showed larger differences in their appetite ratings than the elderly, i ndicating that the elderly were less sensitive to the energy content of the preload than the young adults. Conclusion: We conclude that the ability to regulate the food intake within a preload 90 min test meal paradigm did not differ among children, young a dults and the elderly.