Obesity is a serious health problem around the world, increasing the risk of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and fatty liver disease.
As more people become overweight, scientists are looking for ways to help people manage their weight.
While much research has focused on what people eat and how many calories they consume, new studies show that how people eat may be just as important.
In particular, the speed at which people eat, how many times they chew, and how long they take to eat a meal can affect how much food they end up consuming. Earlier studies have shown that people who eat more slowly often eat less.
But until recently, there have not been many clear, practical tips to help people slow down their eating, especially in countries like Japan where eating habits are different from Western countries.
To explore this idea, a team of researchers led by Professor Katsumi Iizuka from the Department of Clinical Nutrition at Fujita Health University in Japan conducted a study.
The goal was to understand what influences how long people take to eat and how they eat their meals.
The study was done with help from Dr. Megumi Aoshima and Dr. Kanako Deguchi and published in the journal Nutrients in March 2025.
The study involved 33 healthy adults between the ages of 20 and 65. Participants were asked to eat slices of pizza while researchers observed how they ate under different conditions.
The team measured how long the meal lasted, how many times people chewed, how many bites they took, and how fast they chewed. They also tested how these behaviors changed when participants listened to a steady rhythm, like a slow beat, through headphones.
The researchers found that women ate more slowly than men. On average, women took 87 seconds to eat, while men took 63 seconds. Women also chewed more and took more bites. However, both men and women chewed at a similar speed.
The study also found that the number of chews and bites had a strong connection to meal duration, but the body mass index (BMI) and chewing speed did not. Most interestingly, when people listened to a slow beat (around 40 beats per minute), they took longer to eat their meals.
These findings suggest a few easy ways to help people eat more slowly: chew more times per bite, take smaller bites, and eat in a calm environment, possibly with relaxing music or a slow rhythm playing in the background.
According to Professor Iizuka, these are simple, cost-free actions that anyone can try right away to help prevent overeating and reduce the risk of obesity.
This research has useful applications in real life. For example, schools and health programs could include guidance on how to eat slowly, not just on what foods to eat. Changing eating behaviors could be a powerful tool in preventing obesity-related diseases in the future.
Though the study focused only on pizza, the team hopes to test other foods in future studies to confirm that these tips apply more broadly.
In the meantime, this study offers a fresh and practical way to approach obesity prevention. By encouraging slower, more mindful eating habits, we may be able to help people eat less and improve their health without needing expensive treatments or complicated diets.
The study is published in Nutrients.
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