research-bites.com February 2021

FILL? NETFLIX AND

- Patrick McCarthy -

Does eating distracted result in greater food intake?

Study Title: Eating attentively: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of food intake memory and awareness on eating Study Author(s): Robinson, Aveyard, Daley, Jolly, Lewis, Lycett and Higgs Study Journal: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Journal Impact Factor: 6.77

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What will I learn?

• Definition of ‘Eating Attentively’ and how to practice it

• The mechanisms behind the adverse effects of distracted eating

• The possible benefits gained by practicing attentive eating

Weight loss diets, especially among those that are currently overweight or obese commonly lack a crucial component. They tend to focus on the objective energy balance of the individual, providing an arbitrary caloric goal and macronutrient ratio for the individual to remain within each day. But less often, is the focus directed toward the relationship with food and the eating environment. Distracted eating is a phenomenon that is becoming more ingratiated into today’s lifestyle due to both an influx of electronic devices and entertainments as well as the need for remote working from a laptop or phone.

What piece of the puzzle is this?

Weight loss diets, especially among those that are currently overweight or obese commonly lack a crucial component. They tend to focus on the objective energy balance of the individual, providing an arbitrary caloric goal and macronutrient ratio for the individual to remain within each day. But less often, is the focus directed toward the relationship with food and the eating environment. Distracted eating is a phenomenon that is becoming more ingratiated into today’s lifestyle due to both an influx of electronic devices and entertainments as well as the need for remote working from a laptop or phone. Therefore, it is believed and has been shown by some, that improving the cognitive processing, recording and vigilance of one’s food intake may provide a more approachable, but viable, alternative to Calorie counting (Source: NCBI).

What is attentive eating?

Attentive eating is different than mindful eating, but the two can share some characteristics. It is described as removing distractions while consuming food, and monitoring the true amount of food being consumed. This allows a true representation or memory of the amount of food you consumed in your previous session, which can help an individual portion their next or subsequent meal more accurately to their needs, rather than some other environmental cue such as plate size!

research-bites.com February 2021

What did this study do?

What did they find?

Does distracted eating increase later intake?

Not a huge amount of data here, just straight up findings - which still helps to paint a picture. In the first analysis, 10 studies examined the effects of distractions during eating on food consumed in that immediate meal. The analysis here showed a significant effect of increased food intake when distracted (watching TV, television of listening to radios). Interestingly, there was 70% heterogeneity in this analysis which basically means that there was significant variation in the setups of the trials (Hetero = different).

In this study, the authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis with quite specific and rigid eligibility criteria including:

• Must include a control group/condition

• Must measure food intake (kCals/grams)

• Relatively healthy adults (neurologically

healthy)

This resulted in a total of 19 studies available for analysis from an overall catch of 637! I know what you are thinking, “Sheesh, that’s a lot of studies that may have been informative, yet discarded”. And to be honest you are correct in thinking that, which can be one issue when being highly specific with criteria. However, the large initial number is simply representing those studies that included one or more of the keywords in the title, so many would be irrelevant. To learn more, check out our ‘Reading Research’ section. In this study they examined only a small number of variables including the topic/activity such as distracted or attentive eating, along with the resultant food intake (in kCals or absolute grams) immediately or several hours after the activity.

THE STUDY

Researchers highlight the following effects of:

• Distraction on immediate intake • Distraction on immediate and/or later meal

intake • Decreasing awareness of food eaten on

later intake • Enhancing food intake memory on later

intake • Increasing attention on immediate intake

Most people that have stumbled upon this concept of attentive eating think only of the immediate benefits it might provide e.g. you’ll eat less of a meal when you are paying more attention to it. However, several studies included here assessed the impacts on later intake throughout that day. This is related to the working memory of the food quantity consumed earlier in the day. If this memory is distorted (due to distraction) it is believed that it can influence appetite and hunger levels. In this analysis, four studies qualified, all of which distracted one group while eating a meal, and then provided them with another meal 2 hours later to assess food intake. Again, a significant effect was observed, indicating that more food was consumed after the distracted meal prior. Unlike the last analysis, the studies here were all extremely similar with 0% heterogeneity.

research-bites.com February 2021

Does food awareness play a role in the amount consumed?

Does memory play a role in amount consumed?

What are the takeaways? z

Remember how awareness is only one piece of the puzzle of attentive eating? Well, here is the other one. It is believed that accurate memories of the true amount of food consumed can help to influence later food intake. Six studies investigated this (all by one research group though). These studies simply asked participants to recall the food they consumed 2 hours prior at lunch, before eating an afternoon snack. The control condition had participants recall non-food related memories from that day as an alternative. Once again, the distraction led to greater food intake later on in the day, and the kicker was that there was a high level of homogeneity (designs were similar) present in the studies.

You might be asking “Isn’t distracted eating the same as having a reduced food awareness?”. The answer is Yes but No. It is not fully known why distracted eating may increase both immediate and later intake, but one of the widely-believed reasons is that it causes an reduced food awareness. So ‘food awareness’ is actually a puzzle piece of attentive eating, but not the same thing. To confirm this, four studies that attempted to reduce food awareness were assessed. Once again, adding a TV distraction is not sufficient here, and instead the studies used things like:

• Clearing used plates from the table in a buffet

• Having participants eat the meal in a darkened room

Here, participants tended to eat more in the immediate meals, when investigators attempted to reduce the awareness of their food. Whether or not this did indeed reduce their awareness is an important question. Although it was controlled, could it be possible that when the lights are dimmed and people are frantically clearing plates off the table, you might realise you’re in the experimental condition? And vise versa for the control? In the next analysis, two studies aimed to increase the food awareness by giving the participants advice for being more mindful while eating. Here, there was no effects observed, such that there was no influence of attentive eating on immediate food intake. While there was homogeneity amongst the trials (they were very similar in design), two studies is hardly enough to paint a clear picture.

To keep things streamlined, here are some of the main takeaways -

• Distraction seems to increase both immediate and later food intake

• It seems to exert this effect through reducing food awareness and memory of the quantity of food consumed

• Actively recalling the eating period and how much food you consumed may reduce the need to eat as much later in the day

• When eating, try and remove visual distractions as much as possible, allowing primary attention to be paid toward the food

Will have a guide on this soon! P