Gender differences in the reasons given for meal termination

Abstract

Male and female undergraduate students (n = 387) were asked to complete the statement "I usually stop eating when" on a written survey which listed four of five alternative responses and an open, write-in, alternative. Half of the questionnaires listed the alternative, "I feel full"; the other half omitted this alternative. While the fullness option was the most popular response overall, men and women exhibited differing patterns in responses, particularly if fullness was not included as an option. The second most popular response for men was "the food is all gone", indicating an importance of external factors in controlling the amount of food eaten. In women, however, the second most popular response was "the food stops tasting good", indicating an importance of hedonic factors in meal termination. These results suggest that gender may be a critical variable in studies of food intake, and specifically in the study of satiety mechanisms.