Entertaining TV shows make you eat: study

According to US research people eat more when they are glued to the television and the more entertaining the program, the more they eat.

Dr Alan Hirsch, neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago says it seems that distracted brains do not notice what the mouth is doing.

Dr Hirsch explored the impact of smell, taste and eating behaviours while watching TV by measuring potato chip consumption.

Forty-five volunteers ate as many chips as they wanted during five-minute intervals over three-week periods while they watched monologues by late-night talk show hosts David Letterman and Jay Leno.

They also were given chips to eat when the television was off.

Hirsch found people ate an average of 44 per cent more chips while watching Letterman and 42 per cent more while viewing Leno, than when they did not watch TV.

"If you can concentrate on how the food tastes you'll eat less because you'll feel full faster," he said in an interview at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Toronto.

"So if that's the case, let's look at the opposite. What if you're distracted? If you're distracted, in theory, then you'd eat more."

Many studies have linked obesity to watching television and that link is likely due to inactivity, Dr Hirsch said.

But perhaps entertaining shows are also contributing.

"If you want to lose weight, turn off the television or watch something boring," he said.

linky

I'll take that into consideration.

maybe tv shows wont be rated on ratings but on how fat people get while watching them.

If you get fat you know the show is good if you dont then ........

I would have thought that it would have been the oppisite way around;
that you would eat more when the television is boring as a way to distract you,
and when the television is good, you would be to entertained by it to pay attention to food.
At least that is how it works for me...

Perhaps I am just weird.

lol same here

... or stop eating 10 meals a day.

that helps

lol 10 meals a day my cat eats 10 meals a day and thats just the ones we feed him who knows what h eeats when he is outside if ever makes it to the door he so fat he be watching too much tv