Do Food Intake and Food Cravings Change during the Menstrual Cycle of Young Women?

Abstract Objective The aim of the present study was to assess the anthropometric measures, food intake and food cravings during the menstrual cycle of undergraduate students of the faculty of nutrition. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed with 27 students from a public university in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, who had their food intake evaluated through a 24-hour food recall, their nutritional status evaluated based on anthropometric measures, and food cravings evaluated using the Food Desire Questionnaire. Data were collected during an evaluation in the follicular phase (between the 5th and the 9th day of the menstrual cycle) and another in the luteal phase (LP) (between the 20th and the 25th day of the menstrual cycle). For food intake variables, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used, followed by the Tukey test. The Mann-Whitney test was used for the analysis of food cravings, considering a significance level of 5% (p 0.05). Conclusion Food cravings of nutrition students differed between the phases of the menstrual cycle; however, with no difference in food intake and in anthropometric measures.

研究目的：本研究旨在评估巴西南马托格罗索州（Mato Grosso do Sul）一所公立大学营养学院本科生在月经周期中的人体测量学指标、食物摄入状况与食物渴求情况。
研究方法：本研究为横断面研究，共纳入27名该校学生。采用24小时食物回顾法（24-hour food recall）评估其食物摄入情况，通过人体测量学指标（anthropometric measures）评估其营养状态，使用食物渴求问卷（Food Desire Questionnaire）评估食物渴求程度。数据分别于两个月经周期阶段收集：卵泡期（follicular phase，月经周期第5至9天）与黄体期（luteal phase，LP，月经周期第20至25天）。针对食物摄入变量，采用方差分析（ANOVA）后进行Tukey检验；对于食物渴求指标，采用曼-惠特尼检验（Mann-Whitney test），显著性水平设定为5%（p=0.05）。
研究结论：营养专业学生的食物渴求情况在月经周期不同阶段存在显著差异，但食物摄入与人体测量学指标未呈现明显差异。