Watching television and movies have always been associated with eating popcorn, and vice versa. People also love feasting on pizza, chips, soda, and other delights offered in concession stands in the cinema, or at home. Although this may be particularly enjoyable, it is in fact detrimental to our health.
This was confirmed in a study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), which aimed to discover if the type movies people watch do impact how they eat. Results of the study showed that indeed, watching a certain type of movie can significantlty change your eating habits.
Aner Tal and his fellow researchers at Cornell University divided their 94 participants, all of which were students, into three groups. Each group were asked to watch 20 minutes of television. The first group watched the action movie The Island Bay; the second group watched a PBS talk show entitled Charlie Rose; and the third group watched The Island Bay as well, but with the sound muted.
During the entire time, the participants were provided with different types of snacks of varying nutritional value: carrots, grapes, M & M's, cookies. The researchers observed their munching behavior while watching the shows.
It was discovered that participants who watched The Island ate 98% more food, consuming 68% more calories than participants who watched Charlie Rose. Meanwhile, those who watched The Island with the sound muted still ate more food than the charlie Rose group, consuming 36% more food and 46% more calories.
According to the researchers, these findings highlight the aspects of pacing and level of engagement. In terms of the former, The Island had around 25 camera cuts per minute; Charlie Rose had only 5. Also, the level of engagement may have contributed to mindless eating, said Tal. The participants who watched the action film may have been too absorbed in what they were watching to even focus on what they were eating.
According to Psychology Today, this discovery contributes to how we should choose wisely when picking the food food to eat during a movie or television viewing session, to avoid mindless eating.
