Too busy for breakfast, I'm used to grabbing something to eat "on the go." Don't do this. A new study from the UK finds that eating on the go can more easily lead to weight gain. People who are actively trying to lose weight should especially avoid "on the go" eating.
To study the impact of eating habits on weight, Professor Jane Ogden of the University of Surrey, UK, and her research team studied 60 female participants. About half of the participants were on a diet and were randomly divided into three groups of 20, who either ate while walking, ate while watching TV, or ate while talking on the phone. Afterwards, the researchers surveyed the participants' taste reactions and calculated their snack intake for a period after the experiment. The results found that women who were dieting and had the habit of eating while walking consumed significantly more food in a short time afterward compared to the other women. The former group's intake of chocolate snacks was five times that of the women in the control group.
Professor Ogden stated that the specific mechanism by which walking and eating leads to weight gain is not yet fully understood. However, multiple early studies have found that various factors, such as the ease of obtaining food, emotions, and stress, can all affect a person's weight. Eating while walking is very distracting, and the person may not be fully aware of what they are eating, or more likely, they might think they deserve to eat more to compensate for their effort. The less attention paid to food, the more it can adversely affect the digestive process, leading to increased hunger. If dieters eat while walking, they are more likely to overeat at their next meal.