Stunkard A, Kaplan D
Int J Obes. 1977;1(1):89-101.
A review of 13 studies of the direct observation of eating was undertaken in an effort to learn what these studies tell us about the causes and control of obesity. The studies assessed several measures of eating behavior but few of them assessed the same measures. There was no agreement about a distinctive 'obese eating style', but two measures showed promise in discriminating obese from non-obese persons. The first was food choice: obese persons chose more food than non-obese persons (and men chose more than women and tall persons more than short ones). The second measure was rate of eating: obese persons consumed more food per minute than non-obese persons. The studies point up the remarkable plasticity of human eating behavior and the wide range of factors which influence it. This plasticity has profound implications for both research and therapy. It means that only unusual care in the identification and control of extraneous variables will permit adequate assessment of the variables under investigation. Its second implication is as important: if eating is so dependent upon environment, it may be easier to modify than previously thought.
对13项饮食直接观察研究进行了综述，旨在了解这些研究能告诉我们哪些关于肥胖成因及控制的信息。这些研究评估了多项饮食行为指标，但很少有研究评估相同的指标。对于独特的“肥胖者饮食方式”并无共识，但有两项指标在区分肥胖者与非肥胖者方面显示出前景。第一个指标是食物选择：肥胖者比非肥胖者选择的食物更多（男性比女性选择的食物更多，高个子比矮个子选择的食物更多）。第二个指标是进食速度：肥胖者每分钟摄入的食物比非肥胖者更多。这些研究指出了人类饮食行为具有显著的可塑性以及影响它的广泛因素。这种可塑性对研究和治疗都具有深远意义。这意味着只有在识别和控制无关变量时格外小心，才能对所研究的变量进行充分评估。其第二个意义同样重要：如果饮食如此依赖环境，那么它可能比之前认为的更容易改变。
