Food presentation and energy intake in a feeding laboratory study of subjects with binge eating disorder

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the nu mber of foods presented and the amount of food presented on overeating or b inge eating behavior in obese subjects with and without binge eating disord er (BED). Method: Ten subjects (5 BED, 5 non-BED), male and female, aged 18 -65, participated. Their body weight was 130% of their ideal body weight (I B W). They were evaluated in a feeding laboratory setting on four occasions when they were presented with (a) either one or two binge foods presented in (b) either two or four times the amount of their self-reported usual int ake during a binge/overeating episode. Measurement included energy intake a nd self-recorded measures of hunger, fullness, anxiety, and depression. Res ults: The results indicated that the number and amount of food presented in fluenced significantly the amount of food consumed. Although subjects with BED tended to eat more than the non-BED obese, the differences did not reac h statistical significance. Discussion: The results have implications for t he interpretation of results obtained in feeding laboratory settings, sugge sting that attention needs to be given to both the number and amount of foo ds presented because both variables have an impact on the amount of food ea ten during overeating or binge eating episodes. (C) 2001 by John Wiley & So ns, Inc.