Eating in the Absence of Hunger and Obesity Among Adolescents in Santiago, Chile

In reports among mostly, US, white, preschool and young school-age children eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) has been positively related to adiposity, with some support for a sex-specific relationship. There is considerable interest in EAH and obesity in populations at risk for obesity-like populations of countries that have undergone rapid development. We assessed adolescents (n = 679) after an overnight fast with anthropometry and an EAH paradigm beginning with an ad lib pre-load meal. Participants reported satisfaction and perceived ability to eat more food, and then proceeded to a room with freely available snacks where they were permitted to eat ad lib for 20 min. Adolescents were 16.8 years old, 52% male, and 14% with obesity. Median preload meal kcal consumption was 602 (IQR 474-746). Additional calories were consumed at the EAH snack by 47.6%. Among those who ate snack, 155 additional calories were consumed (IQR 78-283). Adolescents with obesity had 0.61 (95% CI 0.37-0.99) reduced odds of eating at the EAH snack adolescents without obesity. Adolescents with obesity were also less likely to eat above the median total calories compared to adolescents without obesity (OR = 0.59, 95% CI 0.36-0.96). A sex by obesity interaction term was not significant in any model. Obesity was related to eating behavior in our sample of Chilean adolescents, however not in the direction we hypothesized. Adolescents with obesity were less likely to eat additional calories in the EAH paradigm and ate fewer total calories compared to adolescents without obesity.