What is it about?
Meals are an important source of food intake, contributing to body weight and health status. Previous studies have examined the relationship between isolated mealtime behaviours and the metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to examine the influence over time of ten interrelated mealtime habits on the risk of developing the MetS and insulin resistance (IR) among Mexican adults. We conducted a prospective cohort study with a sample of 956 health workers. The Mealtime Habits Quality (MHQ) scale is based on four mealtime situations (availability of time to eat, distractions while eating, environmental and social context of eating, and familiar or cultural eating habits), which were used to assess the participants’ MHQ at the baseline (2004–2006) and follow-up (2010–2012) evaluations. The MetS was assessed using criteria from the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). IR was defined using the homoeostasis model assessment. Crude and adjusted relative risks were calculated to estimate the relationship between MHQ and the risk of developing the MetS or IR. Participants classified in the lower MHQ category had an 8·8 (95% CI 3·1, 25) and 11·1 (95% CI 3·4, 36·1) times greater risk of developing the MetS (using the NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria, respectively), and an 11·2 times (95% CI 3·9, 31·5) greater likelihood of developing IR, compared with those in the higher MHQ group. This prospective study reveals that individuals who engaged in more undesirable than recommended mealtime behaviours had a >10-fold risk of developing the MetS or IR.
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Why is it important?
The results of this prospective study indicate that certain habitual mealtime behaviours can predict the development of metabolic diseases. We found that participants who reported more undesirable mealtime habits (low MHQ) than recommended mealtime habits (high MHQ) had a >11-fold higher risk of developing the MetS or IR. Recent nutrition studies have indicated that isolated mealtime behaviours such as distractions while eating, not having enough time to eat(18), skipping breakfast, rushing meals, eating out(21), eating quickly, and certain eating environments or social interactions during meals can promote unhealthy diets and a higher BMI. These undesirable mealtime behaviours are also associated with a prolonged inflammatory state, as well as the development of IR, dyslipidemia, and the MetS.
Perspectives
In previous studies, the quality of mealtime habits has demonstrated the ability to predict dietary patterns, anthropometric status, and risk of gaining weight. The present study provides evidence that certain meal situations such as availability of time to eat, distractions while eating, the environmental and social contexts of eating, and familiar or cultural eating habits are associated with the development of the MetS and/or IR. Our results also support the idea that mealtime habits could be a key issue in nutrition research, since most foods are consumed as part of a meal, making the meal an appropriate area of study for concerns about food intake and its consequences on health(3). Moreover, the MHQ scale could be used as a part of health promotion interventions that target mealtime behaviours, in order to help demonstrate how these strategies could improve diet quality, thus reducing the risk of weight gain and metabolic diseases.
Dr Pablo Méndez Hernández
Universidad Autonoma de Tlaxcala
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Influence of mealtime habits on the risk of weight gain and obesity in Mexican adults, Public Health Nutrition, September 2016, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1368980016002184.
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