| خلاصه مقاله | Introduction: Food craving _a powerful and often uncontrollable urge to eat specific foods_ has been identified as a factor contributing to overweight and obesity. Some research suggested that food cravings may intensify during specific phases of the menstrual cycle. This study aimed to investigate the menstrual cycle's effect on food craving levels.
Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated healthy, non-menopausal females aged 19-49 years. Food craving was assessed using the validated Persian version of the food craving inventory. Participants were asked whether the menstrual cycle affects their levels of food craving. An independent samples t-test was used to determine the significant difference in food craving scores between females with positive and negative responses. If their response was positive, they were asked during which period of the cycle their food craving increases.
Results: This study involved 464 healthy women with a mean age of 34.1 years and a mean BMI of 28.7 kg/m². Among them, 60.1% reported that their menstrual cycle affects their food cravings, while 39.9% did not. Statistical analysis revealed that only cravings for fast foods were significantly higher in those who reported an effect (2.6 vs. 2.4, p = 0.017). Of those who felt affected by their menstrual cycle, 54% experienced increased cravings during the pre-menstrual period, 30.6% during the menstrual period, 8.3% during both pre-menstrual and menstrual periods, and 7.2% after the menstrual period.
Conclusion: The study found that most participants reported an increase in food cravings during the pre-menstrual and menstrual periods. This finding should be taken into account for effective weight management. |