Daily energy balance and eating behaviour during a 14-day cold weather expedition in Greenland

We assessed energy compensation, appetite and reward value of foods during a 14-day military expedition in Greenland realized by 12 male French soldiers during which energy compensation was optimized by providing them with easy-to-eat palatable foods in excess. Although daily energy expenditure (estimated by accelerometry) stayed relatively constant throughout the expedition (15 ± 9 MJ.d-1), energy intake (EI estimated by self-reported diaries) was 17% higher during the D8-D14 than D1-D7 period, leading to a neutral energy balance (EB). Body fat mass (BFM) significantly decreased (-1.0 ± 0.7 kg, p<0.001) but not body mass (BM). Neither hunger scores (assessed by visual analog scales), nor components of the reward value of food (explicit liking [EL] and food preference) were significantly altered. However, changes in EL at D10 positively correlated with changes in BM (r=0.600, p<0.05) and BFM (r = 0.680, p < 0.05) and changes in hunger with the EI of the relevant period (r=0.743, p<0.01 for D1-D7, r=0.652, p<0.05 for D8-14). This study shows that the negative EB and BM loss can be attenuated by an appropriate food supply and that subjective components of eating behaviour, such as hunger and EL, may be useful to predict the magnitude of energy compensation.