Avoid eating ‘on the go’ to keep obesity at bay

Jane Ogden, lead researcher of the study, said: ‘Fullness is not only the result of brain and chemical reactions, but a perception that is influenced by learning, emotion and distraction. However, a new study found that eating while in the midst of doing other activities may be one of the reasons why people can gain more weight which can subsequently lead to obesity.

Eating “on the go” may thwart people who are watching their weight, new research suggests.

And dieters may be especially prone to that mindset, Prof. Because they are habitually denying themselves, she explained, they may overeat when they feel they’ve earned some extra calories. Or it may be because walking, even just around a corridor, can be regarded as a form of exercise which justifies overeating later on as a form of reward.

And that doesn’t just go for eating at your desk – snatching a quick bite to eat on the move is equally bad.

But she agreed that it’s hard to tell whether a lab experiment would translate well into real life. Further analysis revealed that participants assigned to walk ate five times more chocolate than those under different conditions.

A long-term study is necessary to answer that question, McDaniel said.

Lori Rosenthal, a registered dietitian specializing in weight management and bariatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, said she counsels her patients to practice mindful eating – being aware of why, what, where and how much we eat.

Researchers split 60 women into groups: the first ate a cereal bar while chatting with friends, the second watched a clip from US sitcom “Friends” and the third was asked to walk a corridor.

The findings are detailed in the Journal of Health Psychology.

Afterwards, researchers gave the participants a follow-up questionnaire and access to four different bowls of snacks, including chocolate, carrot sticks, grapes and potato chips.

The shocking resuts revealed how the participants who ate the cereal bar while walking around consumed five times as many calories at the taste test.

Despite all the unknowns, it makes sense to eat more mindfully, both Ogden and McDaniel said. “By slowing down and paying attention we are able to recognize when we are beginning to get full and stop before overeating”.