Eating

Few studies have examined the causal relationships between lifestyle habits such as eating speed and obesity.  I wrote an article in the past on chewing slowly may assist with weight loss.  There is lots of books about mindful eating.  There is no doubt that eating more slowly can reduce your weight and I am sure there is a lot of value to this.  Scarfing down your food before you even taste it has to be bad for your waistline.  And slowing down their eating speed over the years seemed to help them lose some weight.  There is no doubt that slowing down results in a more mindful eating process and will help with weight loss, but there is limited research to back up this belief.  Eating speed will certainly help with weight loss in obese patients.  

A recent study aimed to analyze the effects of changes in lifestyle habits on the reduction of obesity[1].  The subjects were 59,717 Japanese men and women enrolled in health insurance societies who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.  During the study, body mass index (BMI) was measured.  Information on lifestyle habits was obtained from the subjects’ responses to questions asked during health check-ups.  The main exposure of interest was eating speed.  The data showed that eating slower reduced BMI and waist circumference. 

The bottom line: Changes in eating speed can affect changes in obesity, BMI, and waist circumference.  Interventions aimed at reducing eating speed may be effective intervention to preventing obesity and lowering the associated health risks.