The more you watch food shows, the more junk food you eat

The food shows on TV always whet your appetite, but don’t think that you won’t gain weight just because you can see but not eat. A US study pointed out that people who want to lose weight should not watch food shows, as people will be visually stimulated and want to eat more, and usually tend to choose sweets or high-calorie junk food.

Watching too many food shows will cause people to unknowingly eat more junk food, which may lead to obesity. (Photography by Huang Zhiwen)

According to The Telegraph, psychologists from Hobart and William Smith Colleges divided the subjects into two groups, one watching ecological programs or one watching food programs, in order to understand whether the type of television programs would affect adults' dietary choices. They also placed three plates of food in front of them, namely chocolate, cheese bars and carrots.

The weight of the three bowls of food was measured before and after the study, and it was found that the subjects who watched the food program consumed more chocolate on the table, while those who watched the environmental and ecological programs ate more carrots. The research, published in the journal Appetite, clearly points out that the types of television programs watched can also be associated with being overweight and obese.

Regardless of whether the food programs they watch are about healthy food or night market snacks, people still prefer to choose junk food to satisfy their appetite. In the past, most studies focused on whether watching TV programs would cause children to gain weight, and concluded that watching TV for one hour a day would cause children to consume an additional 167 calories, which would increase their weight by 6.3 kilograms in a year. Now, it has been further discovered that for adults, watching TV can also be a cause of obesity. If you want to lose weight successfully, it seems that you may have to choose TV programs carefully!