Feeding Behavior, Body Weight and Growth Rate during Post-Deprivation Period in Rats

Abstract

Deprivation is an environmental experience that organisms are continually exposed to. However, few studies analyze deprivation effects on the consumption pattern during the post-deprivation period systematically. The aim of this study was to evaluate the deprivation effect on feeding pattern, growth rate and body weight during post-deprivation. Sixteen albino rats (3 months old at the beginning of the experiment) were exposed to 72-hour total food deprivation every 15 days. Food and water were freely available during non-deprivation periods. Rats completed three cycles comprised by a free access period followed by food deprivation. Once deprivation was removed, food and water consumption increased and then decreased, while body weight was recovered. Growth rate increased after every deprivation period and reached similar levels to those presented by the control group. Depriving rats from one commodity ( i.e. , food) cause them to restrain their consumption of the other freely available commodity ( i.e . , water). Results confirm that food deprivation modifies growth rate, water and food consumption. Additionally, during post-deprivation period, differences between males and females were not registered.