Relative Satiety Value of Candy and Gum: Potential Therapies for Childhood Obesity

Abstract

Compliance with diets is notoriously difficult. Surrendering to hunger with excess consumption is one factor contributing to childhood obesity. In adults, foods have been ranked based on satiety value. The same has not been performed for preferred foods and gum amongst children. A group of ninety children was subdivided to assess satiety through four different paradigms. Using one slice of white bread as a standard reference, a childhood satiety index was established for eight different types of candy and twelve different flavors of sugar-free gum. Candies were provided in isocaloric 100 kcal portions and gums were five kcal or less. Before consumption, and fifteen and thirty minutes afterwards, satiety values were assessed using a visual analog scale. Amongst the candies, Starbursts and Gummi Bears demonstrated the greatest satiety value, one-third more than white bread and almost double that of Tootsie Rolls. The sugar-free gums all revealed satiety values statistically equivalent to that of one slice of white bread or a one-hundred calorie slice of apple pie. Mandibulation of sugar-free gums may thus induce the same degree of satiety but with less than one-twentieth the numbers of calories. Use of hedonically positive candy and gum to induce satiety may have utility in repression of hunger and thus management of obesity.