| Summary: | International audience INTRODUCTIONTo achieve neutral energy balance and avoid body mass loss during a period with high and sustained physical activities might be hard even in comfortable ecological conditions and/or with easy access to food with an energy content exceeding the energy demands. The reasons of this under consumption are multiple and mostly contextual but are rarely studied. The aim of this study was to identify these reasons using a military 20-day ski expedition in Greenland.METHODSTwelve French soldiers realized a 20-d ski expedition in Greenland (-5 to -25°C) during which they were fed with 3750-kcal lyophilized rations (7 different menus composed of easy-to-use, highly palatable and familiar foods) insufficient to cover their expected energy expenditure (~4500 kcal). Each day, in a paper notebook, they had to report foods and beverages intake in order to calculate energy intake. They also had to indicate the time of intake, the palatability of each consumed items (from 1 to 10) and the reason(s) they did not consume some items. Appetite was assessed using visual analog scales before breakfast and dinner. A body mass and composition measurement was done just before and the day after the expedition. The 20 days were cut in 3 parts (D1-D7; D8-D14 and D15-D20) and the food items were separated in breakfast, day sweet, day savory, and dinner items for analyses. RESULTSParticipants experienced a mean negative energy balance of -975 ± 550 kcal during the expedition leading to a 4.2 ± 1.9 kg (p < 0.001) body mass loss. A temporal analysis revealed that energy intake (p = 0.033) and hunger levels (p < 0.001) were higher during the last week compared to first one during the expedition. The percentage of consumed items rose from 86 to 90% between the first and third weeks, this increase concerning mostly savory day and dinner foods (87 to 91, and 81 to 91%, respectively). In agreement, palatability increased only in savory day (p < 0.001) and dinner (p = 0.048) foods. The reasons for not ...
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