You are how you eat : decelerated eating may protect from obesity and eating disorders

On a new framework for anorexia nervosa, learning to eat is central intervention; as patients regain a normal pattern of eating their problems dissolve. Mandometer®, a development of previous methods, allows simultaneous recording of eating rate and the development of satiety as well as experimental manipulation of eating rate.

By measuring eating behavior during the course of a meal with this method, women were divided into those eating at a decelerated rate and those eating at a constant rate. Decelerated eaters are able to resists experimental challenges such as eating at an increased or decreased rate, but linear eaters eat more or less food in these experimental conditions.

Satiety develops similarly in both decelerated and lineal eaters. Linear eaters develop a pattern of eating similar to that of anorexic patients when eating at a decreased rate, they eat less food yet experience an increase in satiety. Linear eaters can learn to eat at a decelerated rate and if they do they can resist overeating when tested to eat at a high rate. As a result of the learning, they also score lower on restrained eating, a cognitive construct thought of as a cause of eating behavior. Skipping dinner increases the linearity of eating and reduces food intake in women but has the opposite effect in men; these changes in eating behavior can be reversed by feedback on how to eat during the meal.

The conditions of the school dinner in secondary schools are such that the speed of eating increases by 50% and food intake gets distorted from its normal pattern. The change can be reversed by eating in a relaxed condition or by feedback on how to eat during the meal. It is suggested that linear eating is a risk factor for eating disorders and that the risk can be reduced by practicing eating using feedback on how to eat properly.

List of scientific papers

I. Zandian M, Ioakimidis I, Bergh C, Södersten P (2007). Cause and treatment of anorexia nervosa. Physiol Behav. 92(1-2): 283-90. Epub 2007 May 25
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17585973

II. Zandian M, Ioakimidis I, Bergh C, Brodin U, Södersten P (2009). Decelerated and linear eaters: effect of eating rate on food intake and satiety. Physiol Behav. 96(2): 270-5. Epub 2008 Oct 18
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18992760

III. Zandian M, Ioakimidis I, Bergh C, Södersten P (2009). Linear eaters turned decelerated: Reduction of a risk for disordered eating? Physiol Behav. 96(4-5): 518-21. Epub 2008 Dec 3
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19087882

IV. Zandian, M, Ioakimidis I, Bergh C, Södrsten P (2009). Linear and decelerated eaters: Women eat less, men eat more after fasting. [Submitted]

V. Zandian, M, Ioakimidis, I, Bergh C, Bergström J, Södrsten P (2009). The school dinner should not be eaten quickly: an observational-experimental study of eating behavior among children in secondary school. [Submitted]