Interindividual variability in appetitive sensations and relationships between appetitive sensations and energy intake

Background: Appetitive sensations (AS) guide eating behaviors. While marked short-term inter-individual variability in AS has been reported, the long-term stability of individual ratings and their dietary implications are not well characterized. Objectives: To assess the stability of inter-individual ratings of hunger, fullness, and thirst over 17 weeks; determine relationships between these sensations, eating patterns, and energy intake (EI); and evaluate associations between ratings and individual characteristics (age, gender, BMI). Methods: In a 17-week observational study, 97 healthy adults (90 completers, 7 partial completers) provided hourly AS ratings and dietary intake at weeks 1, 9, and 17. Results: There were marked and stable inter-individual differences over 17 weeks for hunger (week1–week9 r=0.72; week1–week17 r=0.67; week9–week17 r=0.77; all p<0.001), fullness (r=0.74; 0.71; 0.81; all p<0.001), and thirst (r=0.82; 0.81; 0.88; all p<0.001). Cross-correlation analyses showed EI and eating patterns exerted stronger effects on AS than the reverse, though absolute effect sizes were small. Path analyses indicated weak relationships between AS and EI. No robust effects of age, gender, or BMI were observed. Conclusion: Acute and chronic sensations of hunger, fullness, and thirst are relatively stable within individuals but vary markedly between individuals. AS were poorly associated with dietary patterns or EI under conditions of relatively stable energy balance.

Eunjin Cheon, Richard D. Mattes