The role of interoceptive awareness in decisions about portion size

Keenan, GS; Brunstrom, JM

Abstract

People differ in their ability to monitor signals originating from inside the body. Whether this ‘interoceptive’ awareness plays an important role in pre-meal planning and decisions about meal size is not yet clear. The present study tested if individuals who have poor internal awareness, and who may find predicting future satiation difficult, select ‘ideal’ portion sizes which are closely matched to the maximum amount they believe they can tolerate. In comparison, individuals who are more attuned to these signals may select ideal portion sizes with a greater distance from their maximum. Sixty-one female undergraduate students completed two established measures of interoceptive awareness (waterload and cardiac tracking task) and chose the photographic images which best represented their ‘ideal’ and ‘maximum’ portion sizes for three separate test meals. No relationship existed between measures of interoceptive awareness and the kcal gap between ideal and maximum portion sizes. Interoceptive awareness was also not predictive of ideal or maximum portion sizes on their own. These findings suggest that interoceptive awareness is unlikely to play a key role in decisions about portion size.

Citation

Keenan, G., & Brunstrom, J. (2014, April). The role of interoceptive awareness in decisions about portion size. Presented at British Feeding and Drinking group annual meeting, Loughborough University

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: British Feeding and Drinking group annual meeting
• Conference Location: Loughborough University
• Start Date: Apr 1, 2014
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: May 12, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: May 12, 2022
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference