Weekend Eating Harms Diet, Study Reports

Posted on December 25, 2009 in Opinion

Could weekend eating be hurting your usually healthy diet? A new study finds that people tend to down more food on Saturday and Sunday.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh wanted to test whether patterns in people’s eating habits bump up obesity statistics. They collected data from 1998 and 1999 on the eating habits of 60 individuals who had participated in a national survey conducted by a market research firm. For each survey, the participants kept track of foods eaten in their household by everyone over two weeks.

Those who ate more on the weekends typically devoured as much as 400 calories more on the weekends, or a 20 percent increase. The researchers also looked at how much people overeat on holidays, and came away with a shocking statistic: some eat more than 900 extra calories on special occasion. In order to monitor yourself, try to examine what you eat in general terms. Having a weekly budget of calories might be useful, the study authors said.