Food cravings are a desire for specific foods which, if uncontrolled may lead to excess energy intake and weight gain. However, information on the relation between food cravings, dietary intake, and indices of metabolic health is limited. This study used baseline data from females (n = 229; aged 40.9 ± 0.7 years; BMI 34.7 ± 6.4 kg/m2) who were dependents of active duty and retired military personnel, and enrolled in the Healthy Families Healthy Forces weight loss and maintenance study. Measures obtained included food cravings using the Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait (which provides a habitual and stable measure of food cravings), dietary composition and eating patterns from three 24-h dietary recalls and the Stanford 7-day Physical Activity Recall, body composition from anthropometric measures, cardiometabolic risk factors from blood measures, and demographic information from questionnaires. Linear, quantile, or logistic regression models were used to examine the association of total food craving scores on dietary intake, and indices of metabolic health. In individuals reporting plausible energy intake (n = 146; 2210 ± kcals/day) higher food craving scores were associated with a lower diet quality (P < 0.05), higher eating frequency (P = 0.02), longer daily eating interval (P < 0.05), and a lower likelihood of following a time restricted eating pattern (P = 0.02). Food cravings were also positively associated with BMI (P = 0.03) and waist circumference (P = 0.01), but not with measures of cardiometabolic risk (LDL, HDL, total cholesterol:HDL, triglycerides, glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin and C-reactive protein concentrations, blood pressure, metabolic syndrome). Our findings of significant associations of food cravings with lower diet quality, poor eating patterns, and unfavorable body composition strongly support efforts of targeting cravings in behavioral programs for weight management.

中文翻译：

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对食物的渴望：与饮食摄入和代谢健康的关联

对食物的渴望是对特定食物的渴望，如果不加以控制，可能会导致能量摄入过多和体重增加。然而，关于食物渴望、膳食摄入量和代谢健康指数之间关系的信息是有限的。本研究使用了女性（n = 229；年龄 40.9 ± 0.7 岁；BMI 34.7 ± 6.4 kg/m2）的基线数据，她们是现役和退役军人的家属，并参加了 Healthy Families Healthy Forces 减肥和维持研究. 获得的测量包括使用食物渴望问卷特征（提供习惯性和稳定的食物渴望测量）的食物渴望，来自三个 24 小时饮食回忆和斯坦福大学 7 天身体活动回忆的饮食成分和饮食模式，身体成分来自人体测量学测量，来自血液测量的心脏代谢风险因素，和来自问卷的人口统计信息。使用线性、分位数或逻辑回归模型来检查总食物渴望分数与膳食摄入量和代谢健康指数的关联。在报告合理能量摄入（n = 146；2210 ± kcals/天）的个体中，较高的食物渴望评分与较低的饮食质量（P < 0.05）、较高的进食频率（P = 0.02）、较长的每日进食间隔（P < 0.05），并且遵循限时饮食模式的可能性较低（P = 0.02）。对食物的渴望也与 BMI（P = 0.03）和腰围（P = 0.01）呈正相关，但与心脏代谢风险（LDL、HDL、总胆固醇：HDL、甘油三酯、葡萄糖、糖化血红蛋白、胰岛素和 C-反应蛋白浓度、血压、代谢综合征）。