Relationships of ratings of appetite to food intake in healthy older men and women

The aim of this study was to determine how rated appetite relates to the amount eaten in a meal in healthy older people. On two study days, 32 healthy older men (n=16) and women (n=16) aged 65–85 years, recruited by advertisement, consumed a standardised breakfast and 4 h later were offered lunch from which they could eat freely. Foods eaten at lunch were weighed and energy intake calculated from nutrient composition data. Appetite was assessed at baseline and at 30-min intervals between meals by line ratings of hunger, fullness, nausea and how much could be eaten. The optimum time for correlations both among appetite ratings and between appetite and lunch intake was just before the lunch. Mean coefficients of repeatability (21–38 mm) and correlation coefficients (0.67–0.71) at that point in time were similar to those reported previously in young adults. Thus, in older and well as young adults, the size of a meal is most closely related to rated appetite just before the meal.