[Effect of eating speed modification techniques and strategies on food or energy intake: a systematic review and meta-analysis].

Scientific evidence indicates that eating slowly reduces food and energy intake. However, few investigations have studied the effect of techniques and strategies that modify eating speed on intake. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between these techniques and food and/or energy intake. Therefore, a systematic review of 15 human studies and a meta-analysis of 7 studies with 11 experimental and 1 observational manipulations were carried out. Only the results of two conditions were included, "slow" vs. "fast" of eating speed and ingestion. The estimation of the effect was expressed in OR with a 95 % CI under a random effects model, and heterogeneity was assessed with I2. Publication bias was also assessed with a funnel plot and Egger's linear regression test. The results indicate that eating slowly is a protective factor (OR = 0.73) from excessive intake. Additionally, eating small bites with a small spoon (OR = 0.315), serving food preparations on separate plates (OR = 0.860 and OR = 0.831), using a vibrotactile feedback fork (OR = 0.847), and eating hard-textured foods (OR = 0.831) are the techniques and strategies that modify eating speed and decrease food or energy intake. The present study confirms the premise that eating slowly can reduce excessive food and energy intake.