Association Between Satiety Responsiveness, Appetitive Traits and Intuitive Eating

Background: Impairment in appetite control plays an important role in susceptibility to weight gain. Individuals with a low satiety quotient in response to a meal have been identified as at risk of overeating, but little is known about the eating behavior traits that could explain this susceptibility. This study aimed to assess the associations between satiety responsiveness, appetitive traits and intuitive eating. Methods: Participants (n = 194, age 36.2 ± 14.6 years; BMI range 18.5 to 39.8 kg/m2, 53% overweight/obese, 75% women) were asked to eat a standardized breakfast and complete visual analogue scales for hunger, desire to eat, fullness and prospective food consumption before and after the breakfast to assess their mean satiety quotient (SQ), a marker of satiety responsiveness. Appetitive traits were assessed with the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ) and the intuitive eating with Intuitive Eating Scale (IES-2). Associations were determined using Pearson's correlations adjusted for age, sex and cognitive restriction (an eating behavior trait assessed with the Three-factor eating questionnaire). Results: Mean SQ scores correlated with AEBQ-satiety responsiveness in individuals with normal weight but not in those with obesity (r = 0.27, p = 0.01 vs r = 0.11, p = 0.29, respectively). While global intuitive eating was not associated with SQ (p = 0.74), an association with the IES-2 subscale related to body-food choice congruence (i.e. food choices made while considering health, taste and well-being) was observed only in individuals with normal weight (r = 0.20, p = 0.01 vs r = 0.11, p = 0.25 respectively). Conclusions: Satiety responsiveness measured with a standardized meal is associated with a specific appetite trait or a characteristic of intuitive eating in individuals with normal weight, but not overweight or obesity. These results suggest that interventions designed for this specific phenotype should focus on other behavioral factors, but further studies are needed to confirm these results in a larger group.