Enjoy the festivities

Christmas is just round the corner and most people will be attending a few Christmas lunches or dinners at work or with friends. Everyone is ready for a good nosh up and making merry, and so you should! Perhaps you might consider making it more interesting by observing who eats quickly and who eats until full, or both. ‘What for?’ you might enquire.

A study from Japan studied 4140 adults (1496 men, 2644 women), aged 30 – 69 years, living in Ikawa, a rural community in the north east of Japan, and Yao, a suburb in the south west (BMJ 2008; 337: a2002) . In this population, they examined whether eating until full, eating quickly or both are associated with being overweight (BMI ≥ 25). Overall, 50.9% (571) men and 58.4% (1265) women reported eating until full and 45.6% (523) men and 36.3% (785) women reported eating quickly (fast and very fast categories). In the eating until full group the men are 2 times and women are 1.92 times more likely to be obese when compared to those not eating until full. In the eating quickly group, both men (1.84 x) and women (2.09 x) are more likely to be obese when compared to those who did not eat quickly. As for those who eat quickly and eat until full, the risk of being overweight was 3.13 for men and 3.21 for women. This observation is not unique to the Japanese. In fact, in 1996, a study among fireman and paramedics in USA showed similar findings (Prev Med 1996; 25: 593 – 600).

Do enjoy yourself at the Christmas gathering but remember, don’t rush and don’t gorge! Have a Very Merry Christmas!