This article by Maruyama et al. sought to examine if there was an association between overweight and eating behaviours such as eating until full or eating quickly. In this cohort of 3,287 Japanese individuals, 50.9% of men and 58.4% of women reported eating until full and 45.6% of men and 36.3% of women reported eating quickly. The adjusted odds ratio of being overweight for eating until full was 2.00 (95% CI, 1.53-2.62) for men and 1.92 (95% CI, 1.53-2.40) for women. For eating quickly these odds ratios were 1.84 (95% CI, 1.42-2.38) and 2.09 (95% CI, 1.69-2.59) for men and women, respectively. Finally, for the simultaneous presence of both eating disorders, odds ratios were 3.13 (95% CI, 2.20-4.45) for men and 3.21 (95% CI, 2.41-4.29) for women. An editorial by Elizabeth Denney-Wilson and Karen J. Campbell accompanied this article. Experimental studies have shown that humans are relatively ineffective at regulating their energy intake. The effect of the changing food environment on children is particularly of concern for the future health of this population. In this regard, evidence suggests that parents need to be supported in order to make effective changes to their children’s eating patterns. Young children should be taught to recognize internal signals and modify food consumption accordingly. Because children may find it difficult to regulate energy intake, it is of crucial importance to inform parents of the external stimuli that favour positive energy balance.
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