Obesity Caused By Fast Eating

Researchers have concluded that eating fast can lead to obesity. The study that was conducted by Japanese scientists at the University of Osaka looked at the eating habits of 3,000 volunteers. What they found was that men who ate quickly had an 84% greater chance of being over weight whereas women who ate quickly had a 50% chance of being over weight. An additional effect that the scientists witnessed was that people who continued to eat until they felt full as well as at a fast speed had an even greater chance of being over weight.

From Nottingham University, Professor Ian McDonald said "If you eat quickly you basically fill your stomach before your gastric feedback has a chance to start developing - you can overfill the thing," and that "The old wives' tale about chewing everything 20 times might be true - if you did take a bit more time eating, it could have an impact."

The Journal of Psychopharmacology published a paper by Dr Jason Halford, the director of  Liverpool University's Kissileff Human Ingestive Behaviour Laboratory in which he said "What the Japanese research shows is that individual differences in eating behaviour underlie over-consumption of food and are linked to obesity." Halford also added that "Other research has found evidence of this in childhood, suggesting that it could be inherited or learned at a very early age."

The results from the Japanese research are being published in the British Medical Journal.