Energy intake of obese women

In connection with a weight reduction study over 12 weeks we included a dietary history of obese women before and during the study. The first interview was geared to find out their usual energy intake, the second to monitor compliance. All interviews were performed in the homes of the obese women by the same research dietitian. A pilot study was carried out in the spring with 19 women. The subsequent complete study was performed in the autumn when 33 women were interviewed. After the first interview, the women were taught to eat 1500 kcal/day. The anthropometric data of women in the spring and autumn group were similar. The mean energy intake calculated from the first spring interview was 2203 +/- 643 (s.d.) kcal/day, range 1053-3474 kcal, whereas the daily intake in the autumn group was 2805 +/- 803 kcal/day, range 1113-4042 kcal (P less than 0.01). Thus, after a pilot study a 27 per cent higher energy intake could be revealed in a group of obese women. The second dietary history showed a good compliance with the programme in both spring and autumn groups with a calculated daily intake of 1535 +/- 363 kcal, range 984-2612 kcal, and 1639 +/- 481 kcal, range 616-2995 kcal respectively and an accompanying weight loss of 5.7 +/- 4.1 kg and 4.9 +/- 3.0 kg. Our data indicate that after a dietitian run-in period a substantially higher energy intake can be detected in obese women than has generally been reported.