Nibbling: frequency and relationship to BMI, pattern of eating, and shape, weight, and eating concerns among university women.

Objective: Nibbling has been defined by the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE 16.0) as eating in an unplanned and repetitious manner between meals and snacks without an accompanying sense of loss of control. We investigated the nature and frequency of nibbling in young women.

Method: Fifty-eight university women aged 19-41 years with an average BMI of 22.8 (4.8) were administered the EDE-interview.

Results: Only 9% of women reported no nibbling during the preceding 28 days, 14% nibbled on 1-5 days; 40% on 6-12 days; 21% on 13-15 days and 17% nibbled on 16-28 days. Nibbling was not significantly related to BMI, frequency of meals, binge eating, dietary restraint, or shape, eating, or weight concerns. Significant inverse relationships were found between nibbling and food avoidance (-.27, p=.03) and sensitivity to weight gain (-.26; p=.04).

Discussion: Nibbling occurred frequently among young women but did not appear to have significant consequences for BMI, the overall pattern or eating, shape or weight concerns, or for any measured pathological eating behaviors.