People eat more when distracted by television: women 16-21% more, men 50-52% more

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Saturday, June 02, 2007 2:15 am Email this article
People eat more when they are distracted by television than when they concentrate on the food that they are eating according to an interesting new study by Dr. Alan Hirsch at The Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Men

Men ate 50-52% more while watching TV

Male subjects ate 50-52 percent more potato chips during a five minute period while watching Jay Leno’s Tonight Show or David Letterman’s Late Show then when they were asked to pay attention to the sensory qualities of the potato chips they were eating.

 

Women

Women ate 16-21% more while watching TV

Women consume 16-21 percent more while watching TV than not.

 

Previous Study

Previous Study: Men ate 15% more while watching TV

A previous study found that men ate 15 percent more while watching a television game show than when not watching TV.

 

Conclusion

Distractions while eating may increase consumption

Distractions, such as watching television, while eating may increase consumption the study concludes.

 

Subjects

Subjects: 33 men, 12 women

The study involved 33 men and 12 women.

Each person acted as their own control, eating potato chips while watching TV, then three weeks later, eating while not watching TV.

REFERENCE

Hirsh AR, Li J, Kao A, Hayes M, Choe M, Lu Y. Effect of television viewing on sensory-specific satiety: Are leno and letterman obesogenic? Press Release from Alan Hirsch at the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. 2007 June 2.

AUTHOR’S CORRESPONDENCE

Alan R. Hirsch, MD
The Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation
845 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 990W
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-938-1047
Fax: 312-649-0458
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• Television Watching