Hill C, Llewellyn C H, Saxton J, Webber L, Semmler C, Carnell S, van Jaarsveld C H M, Boniface D, Wardle J
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Cancer Research UK Health Behavior Research Centre, University College London, London, UK.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Oct;32(10):1499-505. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2008.113. Epub 2008 Jul 22.
To examine the association between eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) and adiposity in children.
Two cross-sectional studies in community settings.
For study 1, 348 children (178 girls and 170 boys) aged 7-9 years were recruited as part of the Physical Exercise and Appetite in Children Study. In study 2, participants were a subsample of children aged 9-12 years (N=316; 192 girls and 124 boys) from the Twins Early Development Study.
EAH was operationalized as intake of highly palatable sweet snacks after a mixed meal at school (study 1) or home (study 2). Weight (kg) and height (m) measurements were used to calculate the body mass index (BMI) s.d. scores. Children were grouped using the standard criteria for underweight, healthy weight, overweight and obesity. The healthy weight range was further subdivided into lower healthy weight (<or=50th centile) and higher healthy weight (>50th centile) to examine the distribution of EAH across the adiposity continuum.
In both studies, EAH showed a significant positive association with adiposity in boys after adjusting for covariates (P<0.001), with a linear increase in the intake across underweight, healthy weight and overweight groups. The association between EAH and adiposity was not significant in girls in either study, although in study 1, results showed a quadratic trend, with EAH increasing through the underweight and healthy weight ranges and decreasing in overweight and obese groups.
EAH is a behavioural phenotype that is not specific to overweight children but instead shows a graded association with adiposity across the weight continuum, particularly in boys. In this study, the effect was less pronounced in girls, which may reflect social desirability pressures constraining food intake among heavier girls.
研究儿童在不饥饿时进食（EAH）与肥胖之间的关联。
在社区环境中进行的两项横断面研究。
在研究1中，招募了348名7至9岁的儿童（178名女孩和170名男孩）作为儿童体育锻炼与食欲研究的一部分。在研究2中，参与者是来自双胞胎早期发育研究的9至12岁儿童的一个子样本（N = 316；192名女孩和124名男孩）。
EAH通过在学校（研究1）或家中（研究2）混合餐后摄入高度可口的甜零食来衡量。体重（kg）和身高（m）测量值用于计算体重指数（BMI）标准差分数。根据体重过轻、健康体重、超重和肥胖的标准对儿童进行分组。健康体重范围进一步细分为较低健康体重（≤第50百分位数）和较高健康体重（>第50百分位数），以研究EAH在肥胖连续体中的分布情况。
在两项研究中，调整协变量后，EAH在男孩中与肥胖呈显著正相关（P < 0.001），在体重过轻、健康体重和超重组中摄入量呈线性增加。在两项研究中，EAH与肥胖之间的关联在女孩中均不显著，尽管在研究1中，结果显示出二次趋势，即EAH在体重过轻和健康体重范围内增加，在超重和肥胖组中减少。
EAH是一种行为表型，并非超重儿童所特有，而是在整个体重连续体中与肥胖呈分级关联，尤其是在男孩中。在本研究中，这种效应在女孩中不太明显，这可能反映了社会期望压力对体重较重女孩食物摄入量的限制。
