Hunger

Abstract: A technical reference text for nutritionists, behavioral psychologists, and other health professionals summarizes and discusses current knowledge on feeding behavior, describing the roles of in vivo energy and nutrient depletion and repletion, of the orosensory qualities of food, and of the brain in integrating and interpreting internal and external signals influencing the hunger syndrome. The text, focusing on experimental studies of food intake and its role in nutritional homeostatis, is organized among 11 chapters. Attention is given to: experimental methods for assessing food intake; the underlying concepts in normal feeding in the steady-state and non-steady-state condition; systematic and sensory stimuli to eating; the determinants of meal size; energy balance and the regulation of body weight and body fat mass; brain mechanisms involved in hunger arousal, meal initiation, satiation, meal size, energy balance, and body fat mass maintenance; and nutrient-specific appetites. Areas for further needed research are identified and discussed.