People Are More Likely To Overeat When Watching Action Movies

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Watching too much television has long been associated with obesity, but new research published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that what you watch might be every bit as important as how much you watch when it comes to packing on the pounds.
As part of the study, researchers at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab recruited 94 participants and had them watch 20 minutes of television programming while snacking on M&Ms, cookies, carrots and grapes. One-third of the participants watched a portion of the action movie The Island with sound, one-third watched the same movie without sound, and the remaining study participants watched a segment of the Charlie Rose talk show.
According to the study authors, viewers who watched The Island with sound ate 98 percent more grams of food (206.5 grams vs. 104.3 grams) and 65 percent more calories (354.1 calories vs. 214.6 calories) than those who watched the Charlie Rose Show. Even those watching the silent version of the action movie at 36 percent more grams of food (142.1 grams vs. 104.3 grams) and 46 percent more calories (314.5 calories vs. 214.6 calories).
“We find that if you’re watching an action movie while snacking your mouth will see more action too! In other words, the more distracting the program is the more you will eat,” lead author Dr. Aner Tal, a post-doctoral researcher at the Food and Brand Lab, said in a statement.
“More stimulating programs that are fast paced, include many camera cuts, really draw you in and distract you from what you are eating. They can make you eat more because you’re paying less attention to how much you are putting in your mouth,” he added. As a result, the more a program engages a viewer, the worse it might be for them.
So what can a person do to avoid overeating on junk food while watching the hero battle the evil empire? Dr. Tal and his colleagues recommend creating portions of television snacks before sitting down to watch the show, rather than bringing out an entire bag of chips or box of cookies.

The best option, the researchers said, is to bring out healthier snack foods such as carrots, since action movie viewers tend to munch on whatever happens to be available. After all, they explain, action and sound variation in a program tend to cause people to pay less attention to what they happen to be eating.
Dr. Tal is no stranger to this phenomenon, as he told Deborah Netburn of the Los Angeles Times: “It’s something I noticed in myself. When I go to the cinema and watch a movie I’m really engrossed in, my popcorn will go from full to empty without me realizing it. But if it is a movie I’m less into, I pay more attention to what I’m eating.”
He said that he and his colleagues plan to conduct a follow up study to determine exactly what factors were responsible for mindless eating during action movies, but that they suspect the pacing of the programming and the level of engagement play key roles. The fact that people consumed more food while watching The Island, even when they could not hear the sound, suggests that this is primarily a visual phenomenon.
“One thing we noticed is people eating without paying attention will eat anything. If you don’t really like broccoli but you don’t hate it, this could be a good way for you to get your daily dose of vegetables,” he continued, noting that the results also suggest that people should start tuning in to shows like Charlie Rose. “You’ll eat less and you will get more intelligent television.”
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