Assessment of free-living eating rates with consideration of meal type and utensil use

Since eating rate (ER) is associated with appetite regulation, methods to assess free-living ER and influencing factors would be valuable. We sought to validate the methodology of 24-hour dietary recalls for free living ER while examining meal type and utensil use. Twenty-four overweight (BMI=31.8 +/-2.6kg/m2) females (20.0+/-2.6years) consumed a standardized ad libitum laboratory lunch on a Universal Eating Monitor (UEM), and completed three non-consecutive multiple-pass 24-hour dietary recalls using the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR). Meal duration and utensil use were participant-determined during recalls (n=248meals). ERs were calculated using kcals/min and grams/min excluding beverages <5kcals/serving. ANOVA was used to compare UEM (lab) data to free living NDSR data while controlling for meal type and utensil use. There was no significant difference in ER as grams/min between laboratory and free living ER (p=.5). However, as kcal/min, laboratory ER was faster than free-living ER (p=.005). Meals with more utensils used showed slower ER (g/min p=.003; kcals/min p=.012), and those with no utensils used showed greater gram intake (377.7+/-238.6) than those with one utensil (271.2+/-380.6, p=0.02). Breakfasts were eaten faster (46.9+/-54.4g/min) than dinners (21.7+/-18.3g/min; p<0.05). This study provides evidence that UEM methods and NDSR 24-hour recalls similarly reflect participants' ER in grams/minute but not in kcals/minute. This is a first step in validating methods for assessing free living ER. Differences in ER at different meals should be considered in future work. This study also showed that utensil use may impact ER, which might prove useful in ER research and weight loss interventions.;Keywords: eating rate, utensil use, free living dietary assessment, laboratory dietary.