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Eating slowly may encourage weight loss in type 2 diabetes with obesity
Adults with type 2 diabetes who reported “fast” eating speeds had a higher risk for obesity than those who reported eating at “normal” or “slow” speeds, study data show.
Further, switching from a fast to a slow eating pace could help decrease BMI, according to the researchers.
Haruhisa Fukuda, PhD, MPH, and Yumi Hurst, both from the department of health care administration and management at Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Japan, evaluated patient-level information collected between 2008 and 2013 from commercially available insurance claims data and health checkup data on 59,717 Japanese adults with type 2 diabetes to determine effects of changes in eating speed and other lifestyle habits on obesity over 6 years. Among this population, obesity was defined as BMI of at least 25 kg/m2.
The Standard Health Check-up and Counselling Guidance Programme was used as a questionnaire to determine participants’ eating speed and lifestyle habits.
Participants were divided into three categories based on eating speed: fast (n = 22,070; 27.3% women; mean age, 46.6 years; 44.8% with obesity); normal (n = 33,455; 36.5% women; mean age, 48.1 years; 29.6% with obesity); or slow (n = 4,192; 44.4% women; mean age, 46.5 years; 21.5% with obesity).
During the study period, 51.9% of participants changed their eating speed from baseline; 0.29% switched from being fast eaters to slow eaters, and 0.15% changed from being slow eaters to fast eaters. Compared with the fast eaters, the slow eaters and normal eaters had lower odds for obesity (P < .001 for both). Participants who reported adequate sleep also had lower odds for obesity compared with those who reported inadequate sleep (P = .007). Decreases in BMI were significantly associated with normal or slow eating speed, avoiding eating dinner within 2 hours before sleeping at least three times per week, avoiding snacking after dinner at least three times per week, and only occasionally or never consuming alcohol (P < .001 for all).
“Changes in eating habits can affect obesity, BMI and waist circumference,” the researchers wrote. “Interventions aimed at altering eating habits, such as education initiatives and programs to reduce eating speeds, may be useful in preventing obesity and reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.