"The next mouthful will be the best": influence of prevision of the pleasure on the decision of having a second helping of a just eaten food.

PURPOSE: Firstly, to see if the decision to have a second helping of food is related to the current evaluation of its palatability or to the predicted pleasure of a second helping of the same food. Secondly, to see if there is any relationship between subjects' BMI, their current or predicted evaluation of food palatability and their decision to have a second helping. METHODS: 128 guests attended a village festival with the specific purpose of eating a traditional, local soup made of beans and bacon. Subjects were asked to indicate the pleasure they felt eating the soup and the pleasure they predicted they would feel by having a second helping of the same food. Subjects were then offered a second identical portion of the above described soup. RESULTS: 72 subjects accepted a second helping of the soup. We discovered a significant correlation between predicted pleasure and the decision to have a second helping of the same food. There was also a significant correlation between BMI and the level of predicted pleasure of a second helping. CONCLUSIONS: The decision to have a second helping of food was related to predicted pleasure and not to the pleasure that was experienced during the first helping.

Daily and nightly anxiety among patients affected by night eating syndrome and binge eating disorder.

We tested if there were any differences about nocturnal and diurnal anxiety between patients either affected by Binge Eating Disorder (BED) or Night eating Syndrome (NES). Fifty four patients affected by BED, 13 by NES and 16 by both BED and NES were tested using the Self Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and the Sleep Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ). Their nocturnal eating behavior was ascertained through the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ). Patients affected by both BED and NES scored significantly higher on SAS than other patients. Among NES patients we found a correlation between a SDQ subscale and two subscales of the NEQ. Among BED patients we found a correlation between SAS scores and the nocturnal ingestion subscale of the NEQ. Nocturnal eating is related to nocturnal anxiety among NES patients while it is related to diurnal anxiety among patients affected by BED. These findings support the hypothesis that BED and NES are distinct syndromes sharing overeating but with different pathways to excessive food intake.

Food is never enough: nature and nurture's influence on children's food dose evaluation.

This study investigated whether if socioeconomic factors and\or food palatability influence food amount evaluation among children. Ninety-four children, 10-15 years old, living in Mali in Africa, and 124 living in northern Italy were asked to evaluate an amount of palatable and non palatable candies. The evaluations were compared both to the real number of candies and to that given by the other group. Both Italian and Malian children underestimated the edible candies, interestingly however Malian children did not underestimate altered candies. The data suggest that food dose underestimation is a transcultural characteristic. Evaluation of palatable food is not influenced by socio cultural factors. Underestimation could be a biological protective factor against food shortage; in case of food abundance it could play a role in onset and maintenance of obesity.

Visual evaluation of food amount in patients affected by Anorexia Nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: The study compares visual evaluation of an amount of food and an amount of nonedible objects in patients affected by Anorexia Nervosa and control subjects. METHOD: 59 anorexic subjects were asked to evaluate an amount of candies and plastic bricks shown to them. Their answers were compared to both the real number of objects and the parallel evaluations given by 56 control subjects. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in stimuli evaluation between patients affected by AN and control subjects. Both groups reported a significantly lower number of both candies and bricks in comparison to their real number. DISCUSSION: In an experimental condition not related with food intake there is the same under-evaluation of the amount of presented food and nonedible objects among patients affected by AN and Control Subjects. The clinical finding of overestimation of food intake among patients affected by AN seems not to be due to a perceptive bias.