Research & Development, Ra-Medical, Obesity Centre Beverwijk, Beverwijk, The Netherlands.
Obes Surg. 2011 Jun;21(6):714-21. doi: 10.1007/s11695-010-0094-2. Epub 2010 Mar 5.
Previous studies have suggested that patients who are defined as so-called sweet eaters have more difficulties to lose weight and to maintain weight loss after both conservative treatment and restrictive bariatric surgery, such as gastric banding. There is, however, no agreement on the definition of sweet eating. Also, a questionnaire to measure sweet eating is not available. Therefore, the aim of our study was to agree on a definition of sweet eating and to construct a valid and reliable questionnaire that might be of help to assess the influence of sweet eating on weight loss after bariatric surgery.
A Delphi Study design was chosen to define sweet eating. Based on the Delphi rounds, a questionnaire with self-reported sweets intake was constructed and validated.
Nine experts with different scientific backgrounds participated in the Delphi Study which consisted of four rounds. They finally agreed on the definition that sweet eating can be defined as an eating behavior in which at least 50% of daily consumed carbohydrates consist of simple carbohydrates and which can be triggered by emotional factors (i.e., stress). They did not include the intake of artificial sweeteners in the definition. The Dutch Sweet Eating Questionnaire built on the four Delphi rounds was tested in 138 female patients and appeared to be both valid and reliable.
A shortcoming of this study is that the results may not be applicable to males and to non-Western populations. The definition and the questionnaire may be useful in future research regarding sweet eating and bariatric surgery outcomes in morbidly obese patients.
先前的研究表明，被定义为所谓“甜食爱好者”的患者在保守治疗和限制性减肥手术（如胃束带）后，减肥和维持体重减轻都更加困难。然而，对于甜食的定义还没有达成共识。此外，也没有测量甜食摄入量的问卷。因此，我们的研究目的是达成甜食的定义，并构建一个有效的、可靠的问卷，以帮助评估甜食对减肥手术减肥效果的影响。
采用德尔菲研究设计来定义甜食。基于德尔菲回合，构建并验证了一份包含自我报告甜食摄入量的问卷。
九位具有不同科学背景的专家参与了这项研究，研究共包括四轮德尔菲回合。他们最终同意将甜食定义为一种饮食行为，即至少 50%的日常消耗的碳水化合物由简单碳水化合物组成，并且可能会受到情绪因素（即压力）的影响。他们没有将人工甜味剂的摄入量包含在定义中。基于四轮德尔菲回合构建的荷兰甜食问卷在 138 名女性患者中进行了测试，结果显示该问卷具有有效性和可靠性。
本研究的一个缺点是，结果可能不适用于男性和非西方人群。该定义和问卷可能对未来研究肥胖患者的甜食和减肥手术结果有帮助。
