Daily distracted consumption patterns and their relationship with BMI

Appetite, vol. 176, pp. 106136

Abstract

The rapidly increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity has heightened the need for a better understanding of obesity-related eating patterns and dietary behaviours. Recent work suggests that distracted eating is causally related to increased immediate and later food, pushing the need for a better understanding of the prevalence of distracted consumption and how this relates to body weight. To extract insights in the relationship between demographics, daily consumption settings, and BMI, we performed secondary data analyses on data from 1011 individuals representative of the Dutch population (adults, 507F, BMI 17–50 kg/m2). The most commonly reported distractions were talking to others (32.7%) and watching television (21.7%). Only 18.4% of respondents reported no distractions during meals. To examine how different distractions related to BMI, we performed OLS regression which showed, among other things, that watching tv while eating lunch (η2 = 0.37) and working during dinner were associated with a higher BMI (η2 = 1.63). To examine the robustness of these findings, machine learning techniques were used. A random forest analysis (RMSE = 4.09) showed that next to age and education level, distraction during lunch and snack was amongst the largest predictors of BMI. Multiple linear regression with lasso penalty (RMSE = 4.13) showed that specifically watching tv while eating lunch or snacks was associated with a higher BMI. In conclusion, our analyses confirmed the assumption that people are regularly distracted during their daily meals, with distinct distractors relating to BMI. These findings provide a starting point for evidence-based recommendations on which consumption settings are associated with healthier eating patterns and body weight.

Authors 5

1. Floor van Meer corresponding Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands. Electronic address: a.f.van.meer@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands

2. Frank de Vos Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands

3. Roel C.J. Hermans

   Maastricht University Medical Centre · Maastricht University

   Affiliation as printed

   NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, the Netherlands

4. Paul A. Peeters

   Netherlands Nutrition Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Netherlands Nutrition Centre, the Netherlands

5. Lotte Frederike van Dillen Aachen Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic Behaviour Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands; Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic Behaviour, Leiden University, the Netherlands

   Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands

   Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic Behaviour, Leiden University, the Netherlands

   Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, the Netherlands