Eyes are bigger than the stomach: correlation between body mass index, satiety, and prediction of satiety

Abstract

We investigated if among adult subjects there is any correlation between body mass index (BMI), evaluation of current satiety after a standard meal and predicted satiety hypothesizing to have a second helping of the same food. One hundred and twenty-eight adult subjects randomly recruited during a village festival were included into the study; 20 were underweight, 74 normal weight and 34 overweight. Just after eating a highly caloric bean-soup, they were requested to evaluate current satiety and to predict their satiety before having a second helping of the same food they had just eaten to find out if there was any correlation between BMI and the evaluations. There was a significant negative correlation between participants' BMI and predicted satiety, no correlation was found between BMI and current satiety. The outcomes of the study give suggestions for prevention and treatment of overweight patients.