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Prevalence of tachyphagia at lunch and associated factors in a population of workers

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Obesity is a public health problem worldwide. The eating habits of French workers need to be clarified. In particular, tachyphagia (meal lasting < 15 min) promotes weight gain. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of tachyphagia at lunchtime, the factors associated with tachyphagia, and the relationship between tachyphagia and obesity among workers.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and May 2016 in five departments of occupational medicine. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was used to gather general declarative data, such as weight and height (to calculate body mass index [BMI]) and information about lunchtime habits, including the time spent eating.

Results

A total of 415 workers with a mean age of 41.1 ± 12.6 years were included. The mean BMI was 23.8 ± 4.6 kg/m2, and the prevalence of obesity was 15.9%. Tachyphagia occurred in 20.3% of the cases and was more frequent in younger workers. Multivariate analysis revealed that skipping meals, eating standing up, and eating fast food were positively associated with tachyphagia (p = 0.015, p = 0.028, and p = 0.027, respectively). Older age and eating with colleagues/friends were negatively associated with tachyphagia (p = 0.003 and p < 0.0001, respectively). No significant association was observed between tachyphagia and obesity.

Conclusion

Our study provides important information about the lunchtime habits of workers. Maintaining commensality is crucial, particularly in young workers. Companies should play a role in organising their employees’ lunch breaks.

Level III Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

INSEE:

French National Institute of Statistics and Economic studies

OR:

Odds ratio

SD:

Standard deviation

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Doctor Francis William for the English review of the manuscript.

Funding

None.

Author information

Author notes

  1. L. Salle and C. Millotte contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Endocrinology and Diabetes Department, University Hospital of Limoges, Limoges, France

    Laurence Salle

  2. INSERM, Univ. Limoges, CHU Limoges, IRD, U1094 Tropical Neuroepidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology and Tropical Neurology, GEIST, Limoges, France

    Laurence Salle

  3. General Practitioner Department, School of Medicine, Limoges, France

    Claire Millotte

  4. INSERM, U1094, Tropical Neuroepidemiology, Limoges, France

    Marion Vergonjeanne, Michel Druet-Cabanac, Jean- Claude Desport, Fayemendy Philippe & Pierre Jésus

  5. Univ. Limoges, UMR_S 1094, Tropical Neuroepidemiology, Institute of Neuroepidemiology and Tropical Neurology, CNRS FR 3503 GEIST, 87000, Limoges, France

    Marion Vergonjeanne, Michel Druet-Cabanac, Jean- Claude Desport, Fayemendy Philippe & Pierre Jésus

  6. Department of Occupational Medicine, University Hospital of Limoges, Limoges, France

    Michel Druet-Cabanac

  7. Interprofessional Association for Occupational Health 87 (AIST87), Limoges, France

    Marie Perrier

  8. Inter-Company Medical Service, Health Insurance of the Haute-Vienne, Limoges, France

    Martine Gravelat

  9. Department of Occupational Health, Mutual Social Agricultural (MSA) of Haute Vienne, Limoges, France

    Monique Dupont-Cuisinier

  10. Legrand Society Autonomous Medical Department, Limoges, France

    Catherine Le Flahec

  11. Nutrition Unit, University Hospital of Limoges, Limoges, France

    Jean- Claude Desport, Fayemendy Philippe & Pierre Jésus

  12. Specialized Center of Obesity of Limousin, University Hospital of Limoges, Limoges, France

    Jean- Claude Desport & Pierre Jésus

  13. Service d’endocrinologie-Diabétologie, CHU Limoges, 2 avenue Martin Luther King, 87042, Limoges Cedex, France

    Laurence Salle

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Contributions

CM, PJ and JCD designed the research; LS, CM, MDC, MP, MG, MDC, CLF provided databases; PJ and MV performed statistical analysis; LS, CM, PJ, PF, BM and JCD wrote the paper. All authors approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laurence Salle.

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Conflict of interest

All authors have no conflict of interest with this work.

Ethics approval

The research meets all applicable standards with regard to the ethics of experimentation and research integrity. Ethical approval was obtained from local ethics committee, Limoges University Hospital Center (IRB450-2021-106). As an expert scientist and along with co-authors of concerned field, the paper has been submitted with full responsibility, following due ethical procedure, and there is no duplicate publication, fraud, plagiarism, or concerns about animal or human experimentation.

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Salle, L., Millotte, C., Vergonjeanne, M. et al. Prevalence of tachyphagia at lunch and associated factors in a population of workers. Eat Weight Disord 27, 1569–1574 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-021-01295-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-021-01295-1

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