Eating in the absence of hunger and overweight in girls from 5 to 7 y of age.
BACKGROUND
Eating when exposed to large portions of palatable foods in the absence of hunger has been suggested to contribute to overweight.


OBJECTIVE
This research evaluated whether young girls' eating in the absence of hunger was stable across a 2-y period in middle childhood, was associated with an increased risk of overweight, and could be predicted by parents' use of restriction in child feeding.


METHODS
The participants were 192 non-Hispanic white girls and their parents, assessed when the girls were 5 and 7 y of age. The girls' eating when exposed to palatable foods in the absence of hunger was measured after they consumed a standard lunch and indicated that they were no longer hungry.


RESULTS
Eating in the absence of hunger showed moderate stability across the 2-y period for most of the girls. The girls who ate large amounts of snack foods in the absence of hunger at 5 and 7 y of age were 4.6 times as likely to be overweight at both ages. Parents' reports of restricting their daughter's access to foods at age 5 y predicted girls' eating in the absence of hunger at age 7 y, even when the girls' weight status and eating in the absence of hunger at age 5 y were controlled for.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides the first evidence that young girls' eating in the absence of hunger may represent a stable phenotypic behavior of young overweight girls. In addition, these findings are consistent with previous work indicating that parents' restrictive feeding practices may contribute to this behavior.
Fisher
Jennifer Orlet
JO
Department of Pediatrics, US Department of Agriculture Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Birch
Leann L
LL
D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D010290:Parents