Effects of overcrowding and post overcrowding on eating behavior: an experimental study

Abstract

Overcrowding and housing distribution is a major problem today with negative effects on the physical and psychological health of individuals. Eating behavior is essential for survival and determinant for an individual’s state of health or disease, it is necessary to carry out studies to elucidate the dietary changes that may be generated by subjecting individuals to an overcrowded condition and the subsequent effects of this condition. The aim of this research was to analyze the effect of overcrowding and post crowding on food intake and body weight in rats. The subjects had access to food and water throughout the experiment, their consumption and body weight were recorded daily. In phases 2 and 4 the subjects were housed in overcrowding, during phases 1, 3 and 5 they were housed in a non-overcrowded condition. The results showed that overcrowding generated a decrease in food consumption in the first exposure was 2.9g and in the second exposure was 4.43g and an increase in water consumption in the first exposure of 6.4 ml. Subjects' body weight decreased during crowding phases, however, progressively recovered under non-crowded conditions.