The Effect of Meal Texture on Intake

In this study the effect of meal texture differences (slow vs fast eating rate) on intake will be investigated.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Eating Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Meals served during breakfast with a wide range of different food textures; Other: Meals served during lunch with a wide range of different food textures

Detailed Description

Rationale: Food texture modifies eating rate and through that the energy intake of foods. It is shown that harder, chunkier, more viscous, and more voluminous foods decrease eating rate of foods and thus decrease energy intake. However, most research is done in model foods or single foods. So far, little research on food texture and intake has been performed for meals. It is not known what the effect of food texture and eating rate is on intake in a wide variety of meals. Knowledge on the effect of food texture on intake could be used for strategies to drive or limit energy intake.

Objective: The objective is to determine how a wide range of different food textures influence energy intake, food intake, and eating behaviour.

Study design: All participants receive all twelve different meals (within subject design). The meals are either served during breakfast or lunch. The meals have a wide range of different food textures. Participants consume the meals ad libitum twice per week for six weeks long with at least two days in between.

Study population: Healthy Dutch speaking adults (n=30) between 18-55 years old with a BMI between 18.5-30 kg/m2.

Intervention: Participants will join twelve test sessions. For the test sessions they will visit the eating behaviour lab where they receive ad libitum meals during breakfast or lunch. During meal consumption participants are video recorded to determine eating behaviour. The participants will receive in total twelve meals. The order in which participants will receive the meals will be block randomized (block n = 5).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Netherlands
  • Gelderland
    • Wageningen, Gelderland, Netherlands, 6708 WE
      • Wageningen University, Human Nutrition Department

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 55 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Generally healthy
• Good appetite
• Between 18 and 55 years old
• Speak and understand English without difficulty
• BMI between 18.5-30 kg/m2.
• Non-smoker
• Commonly (5 out of 7 week days) eat three meals a day every day around the

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have difficulties with swallowing, chewing, and/or eating in general;
• Are suffering from an endocrine or eating disorder, gastrointestinal illness or illness of the thyroid gland, respiratory disease, or diabetes
• Have taste or smell disorders
• Have braces or oral piercing (dental wire behind teeth is allowed)
• are smoking
• Consume on average more than 21 glasses of alcohol per week
• Are not willing to stop using drugs during the study period (from inclusion till last test session)
• Use medication that may influence study outcomes
• Have allergies or intolerance to any ingredient of the test meals
• Are not willing to eat the test food because of eating habits, believes, or religion
• Follow a vegetarian or vegan diet
• Are lactose intolerant
• Have facial hair such as a beard
• Follow an energy restricted diet during the last 2 months
• Gained or lost 5 kg of body weight over the last half year
• Are an employee, thesis student or intern at the chair group of Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour Human Nutrition (WUR).
• Do intensive exercising more than 8 hours per week
• Low score (<1) for liking the individual test meals on a nine point Likert scale based on pictures of the meals
• Familiar with at least 75% of the test meals (self-report)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Meals served during breakfast; Twice a week for six weeks (in total twelve times) participants will consume meals ad libitum during breakfast.	Other: Meals served during breakfast with a wide range of different food textures; Ad libitum portions of twelve different meals with a wide range of food textures served during breakfast at the eating behaviour lab
Experimental: Meals served during lunch; Twice a week for six weeks (in total twelve times) participants will consume meals ad libitum during lunch. They will receive a standardized breakfast meal.	Other: Meals served during lunch with a wide range of different food textures; Ad libitum portions of twelve different meals with a wide range of food textures served during lunch at the eating behaviour lab

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Energy intake (kcal)	Energy intake (kcal) of each meal	6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Food intake (g)	Food intake (g) of each meal	6 weeks
Eating rate (g/min)	Eating rate (g/min) measured with video recording and automated video analysis	6 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
BMI	Obtained by body weight (kg; measured using a weighing scale) and height (cm; measured using a stadiometer) as assessed during screening	5 minutes
Subjective hunger	Hunger measured before and after meal consumption on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' (0) to 'extremely' (100) with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Subjective fullness	Fullness measured before and after meal consumption on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' (0) to 'extremely' (100) with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Subjective desire to eat	Desire to eat measured before and after meal consumption on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' (0) to 'extremely' (100) with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Liking	Liking of meals after one bite and after meal consumption will be rated on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Flavour intensity	Flavour intensity after one bite will be rated on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Subjective prospective consumption	Prospective consumption measured before and after meal consumption on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' (0) to 'extremely' (100) with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Hardness	Hardness after one bite will be rated on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Thickness	Thickness after one bite will be rated on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Dryness	Dryness after one bite will be rated on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Familiarity	Familiarity (after one bite and after the meal) will be rated on a 9 point Likert scale	6 weeks
Expected satiation	Expected satiation (after one bite) will be rated on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Desire to eat the meal	Desire to eat the meal (after one bite and after the meal) will be rated on a 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely' with anchors at the beginning and end of the line	6 weeks
Reasons for eating cessation	Reasons for eating cessation assessed with the Reasons Individuals Stop Eating Questionnaire (RISE-Q)	6 weeks
Self-reported eating rate	Self-reported eating rate measured using the question "How would you describe your eating rate compared with others?" which can be answered on a five-point Likert scale ('very slow', 'slow', 'average', 'fast' or 'very fast')	1 minute
Restrained eating, emotional eating and external eating	The level of restrained, emotional, and external eating assessed with the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) consisting out of 33 questions.	30 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Wageningen University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 24, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 20, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): January 20, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 2, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 11, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): November 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): January 24, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 20, 2023
• Last Verified: January 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Food intake; Energy intake; Eating rate; Texture
• Other Study ID Numbers: CONSTRUCT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No