Television Content and Food Intake Among Restrained versus Unrestrained Eaters

Abstract

There is a great deal of research suggesting that television (TV) viewing is associated with increased food intake. However, research on the relationship between TV content and food intake is limited. First, this study examined whether people ate more when TV content is related to food. Second, this study examined whether a TV program’s effect on food intake was moderated by people’s dieting status. Participants were asked to watch 30-minute TV programs that contained either food-related content or non-food-related content. While watching the TV programs, participants were allowed to eat two types of candy. The results indicated that there was no overall difference in candy intake based on the TV content; however, the association was moderated by their restrained eating status. Restrained eaters ate more candy while watching a food-related TV program while unrestrained eaters were not influenced by the content of the TV program.

Keywords: TV viewing, snacking, dietary restraint, restrained eater, unrestrained eater, BMI, food consumption