Self-awareness of fast eating and its impact on diagnostic components of metabolic syndrome among middle-aged Japanese males and females.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the association between subjects with self-awareness of fast eating and diagnostic components of metabolic syndrome in Japanese middle-aged male and female.

Patients And Methods: Subjects consisted of 3208 males (average age 50.6 years) and 2055 females (average age 50.0 years). Associations between subjects with self-awareness of fast eating and multiple components of metabolic syndrome (waist circumference, body mass index [BMI], blood pressure, and related blood sample tests) were evaluated.

Results: Significantly more males (57.7%) acknowledged themselves as "fast eater" than females (46.5%). Self-reported fast eaters showed significantly elevated body weight, BMI, and waist circumference in both genders. However, only male self-reported fast eaters showed high levels of blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, uric acid, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol.

Conclusion: Fast eating is associated with diagnostic components of metabolic syndrome. The effect of acknowledging themselves as fast eater presents a higher impact on males than on females in the middle-aged Japanese population. The present study indicates that finding subjects with self-awareness of fast eating may lead to the prevention of developing metabolic syndrome.