Abstract
BackgroundTemporal aspects of eating are an integral part of healthy eating, and regular eating has been associated with good diet quality and more successful weight control. Unfortunately, irregular eating is becoming more common. Self-monitoring of behavior has been found to be an efficient behavioral change technique, but the solution should be simple enough to ensure long-lasting adherence.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the influence of self-monitoring of daily eating pattern with mobile phone app on eating rhythm, eating behavior tendencies, and the underlying motives and attitudes related to eating.MethodsA mobile phone app, Button, was developed for effortless self-monitoring of eating rhythm. The feasibility of the app was tested in a 30-day intervention. The participants (N=74) recorded their eating occasions during the intervention by pressing a button in the app widget.ResultsThe average interval between meals increased (96 [SD 24] min during the first 10 days vs 109.1[SD 36.4] during the last 10 days) and the number of daily eating occasions decreased (4.9 [SD 0.9] during the first 10 days vs 4.4 [SD 0.9] during the last 10 days). The tendencies for cognitive restraint, emotional eating, and uncontrolled eating increased. Eating-related attitudes and motives remained largely unchanged.ConclusionsThese results indicate that a simple self-monitoring tool is able to draw a user’s attention to eating and is a potential tool to aid people to change their eating rhythm.
Highlights
Eating rhythm is an integral part of healthy eating
Eating-related attitudes and motives remained largely unchanged. These results indicate that a simple self-monitoring tool is able to draw a user’s attention to eating and is a potential tool to aid people to change their eating rhythm. (JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2019;7(3):e11490) doi:10.2196/11490
A regular eating pattern including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 1 to 2 snacks has been found to be associated with good diet quality [1], whereas skipping breakfast has been consistently found to associate with poor overall diet quality and exposure to weight gain [2,3]
Summary
A regular eating pattern including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 1 to 2 snacks has been found to be associated with good diet quality [1], whereas skipping breakfast has been consistently found to associate with poor overall diet quality and exposure to weight gain [2,3]. A recent review was not able to confirm associations between eating frequency and body weight [6]. Irregular eating has been associated with various adverse health effects [7] as it may complicate weight regulation via hindered circadian system [8]. A recent review found irregular eating habits to be associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic risk factors [9]. Temporal aspects of eating are an integral part of healthy eating, and regular eating has been associated with good diet quality and more successful weight control. Self-monitoring of behavior has been found to be an efficient behavioral change technique, but the solution should be simple enough to ensure long-lasting adherence
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