Associations between eating patterns, dietary intakes and eating behaviors in premenopausal overweight women

The regulation of energy intake is complex and many biological, psychosocial and environmental influences have been identified. To our knowledge, no study has yet investigated how eating patterns could mediate associations between eating behaviors and self-reported energy intake in premenopausal overweight women. Therefore, objectives of this study were to examine associations between eating behaviors and eating patterns in premenopausal overweight women and to test if eating patterns could mediate the associations between eating behaviors and self-reported energy intake. Women completed a 3-day food record and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire was used to assess eating behaviors (dietary restraint, disinhibition, hunger). In the total sample of women, flexible restraint was negatively (r = -0.18: p = 0.03) and binge eating severity was positively (r = 0.24; p = 0.004) associated with self-reported energy intake. Moreover, flexible restraint was positively associated with the proportion of energy intake at breakfast (r = 024; p = 0.004), whereas disinhibition and binge eating severity were positively associated with the proportion of energy intake from snacks consumed after 5:00 pm (r = 022, p = 0.007 and r = 0.22, p = 0.01, respectively). In addition, mediational analyses showed that proportion of energy intake from snacks consumed after 5:00 pm explained 24.1% of the association between binge eating severity and self-reported energy intake. In conclusion, these results suggest that eating patterns are important factors to consider in order to explain the associations between eating behaviors and self-reported energy intake. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.