Eating in the Absence of Hunger Is Related to Worse Diet Quality throughout Pregnancy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Scant research has examined whether laboratory assessments of eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) relates to long-term diet quality.

Objective

This study investigates the association of EAH with diet quality during pregnancy.

Design

Pregnancy diet quality was assessed using 24-hour diet recalls collected in each pregnancy trimester. EAH was assessed in a counterbalanced, crossover laboratory feeding substudy in which participants completed two free access eating occasions following a standardized meal during their second pregnancy trimester.

Participants/setting

Data were collected from March 2015 to December 2016 from a subsample of participants (n = 46) enrolled at ≤12 weeks' gestation in an observational, prospective cohort study (the Pregnancy Eating Attributes Study) in North Carolina.

Intervention

Participants were presented with highly processed (HP) and minimally processed (MP) foods in two separate assessments.

Main outcome measures

Scores for total Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) and adherence to adequacy and moderation components were calculated from the diet recalls. Higher scores reflect better diet quality.

Statistical analyses performed

Linear regressions estimated associations of pregnancy diet quality with EAH (energy, EAH-kcal; and percent offered, EAH-%) in each condition for all foods, and separately for sweet and savory foods.

Results

Lower pregnancy diet quality (all indicators) was associated with greater EAH (EAH-kcal and EAH-%) of all foods and sweet foods in the HP condition. Each 100-kcal increase in EAH of HP foods was associated with a 2- to 3-point decrease (standard error = 0.7 to 0.8) in HEI-2015 (P < 0.01); each 10% increase in EAH of HP foods was associated with a 5- to 7-point decrease (standard error = 2.0) in HEI-2015 (P < 0.01). Greater EAH (energy and percent offered) of savory food intake in the HP condition was associated with a lower HEI-2015 adequacy component score, but was not associated with the HEI-2015 or HEI-2015 moderation component scores. EAH in the MP condition was not associated with pregnancy diet quality.

Conclusions

Greater EAH of HP, especially sweet, foods was related to worse pregnancy diet quality. Consuming HP sweets after meal termination may reflect a tendency for eating beyond satiation and may be a useful intervention target for improving maternal diet quality.

SUBMITTER: Lipsky LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7902382 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature