Is the hedonic hunger score associated with obesity in women? A brief communication

Food intake for its hedonic properties can result in excess caloric intake. It may play a role in increasing trend of obesity in the world. Hedonic hunger may effect on dietary patterns. We assessed the association between dietary patterns and the hedonic score in obese and non-obese women. In this case-control study 140 women aged 17-44 years from an obesity club at district 4 of Tehran participated. Dietary patterns were assessed through food frequency questionnaire by factor analysis method. The hedonic score was determined using a 21-item valid questionnaire. ANOVA and Logistic regression were used to statistical analysis.

Factor analysis method showed that there were 2 dietary patterns named healthy and unhealthy, in order to their food items. There was not any significant trend for obesity among tertiles of healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns. The mean hedonic score was significantly higher in obese than non-obese women, (p < 0.05). The second and the third tertiles of hedonic score significantly increase the odds of obesity referring the first tertile (2.8 and 10.8, respectively). Hedonic hunger had a positive association with obesity; but there was no difference in dietary patterns of obese and non-obese women, unexpectedly.