DAILY AND ABNORMAL EATING BEHAVIORS IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE OF CHILEAN ADULTS

Aims: this research aimed to characterize the daily eating behavior in a sample of Chilean adults according to their Body Mass Index (BMI) and gender and to analyze the possible links between these variables and abnormal eating behaviors. Methods: 657 participants (437 women and 220 men, age range 18-64 years) were evaluated with a battery of self-administered questionnaires. Mean BMI was 25.50 kg/m(2) (women 24.96 kg/m(2), men 26.58 kg/m(2)), being significantly higher the mean of BMI in the men group, being the BMI mean of the total sample and that of the male group in the overweight range. Results: participants with overweight (BMI >= 25 kg/m(2)), in contrast with normal-weight group, tended to do more frequently the following behaviors: skip meals, follow a diet, eat less homemade food, eat faster and in greater quantities, in addition to do a greater number of abnormal eating behaviors of various kinds and to rate significantly higher in clinical scales that evaluated eating restraint and overeating. Men showed significantly more eating behaviors linked with overeating, and women performed more behaviors related with eating restraint and emotional eating. Discussion: the results suggest that, besides "what" people eat, "how" people eat, in terms of specific behaviors, may contribute to the rapid increase of overweight in Chilean population.