Listen to music, eat more

A lot of research has been done on environmental factors and their impact on people's eating behavior. Watching television, for example, has been positively related to increases in body fat and food intake along with decreases in exercise. The theory is that watching television distracts you from what you're eating, so you don't notice that you're full. Other studies have related listening to a recorded story to similar increases in food intake.

To examine people's food intake in relation to listening to music, researchers at Georgia State University recruited 78 college students, 63 women and 15 men, to keep a detailed food diary for seven consecutive days (Appetite 2006;47(3):285-289).

The subjects were carefully instructed in how to keep the diary and they recorded everything they ate and drank, including where, when, with whom, and how long they ate, as well as whether music was on or off during the meal. If music was on, they were asked to rate the music's speed on a 7-point scale, from slow to fast. Similarly they were to rate the music's volume on a 7-point scale, from soft to loud.

The students' Body Mass Index, height, weight, ethnicity, and other characteristics were recorded, as well.

While music speed and volume didn't seem to have any effect on what or how much the students ate, the students ate 20% more calories when music was on as opposed to when music was off. With music on, they ate 30% more fat, and their meal lasted an average of 30% longer. These results held true regardless of whether the individual student was overweight or not.

What this means for you:

If you're trying to eat better and more healthy, it's critical for you to pay attention to what you eat. Turn off the music and the television and taste the food. After all, that's why you're eating it, isn't it?

First posted: November 7, 2006