Yes, I've noticed it too, and haven't tested it to the extent to see how far down the bar will go. This is the first time I've ever had anyone's level say 'hungry'. It now forces me to pause the game when I'm away when I didn't have to before.. I'm not liking it at all.

Having said that, it doesn't seem to matter how often I praise for preparing a meal now, they 'get it' less than before. It's the first part of the game I've been disappointed in since the release though, when others haven't liked other aspects, so I'll take the bad with the good I suppose. One of the things I liked about this game was that it was more user friendly in the sense that I didn't have to sit with it as much as the VV games; that's not the case with this change now.