All those ‘on-the-go’ sandwiches you had could be making you fat: Study

Is your schedule during the day a bit too tight to squeeze in time for a proper meal because of which you prefer eating on the go? Well, this habit could lead to weight gain, a new study has suggested.

University of Surrey scientists have shown through a new study that all those people eating on the go may actually be eating more which could lead to weight gain and obesity. The study, published in Journal of Health Psychology, also suggests that eating while walking led to more overeating compared to eating while watching TV or while having conversation with a friend.

For their study, researchers asked 60 women – either dieters or non-dieters – divided into three groups to have cereal bar under three different conditions. The first group was asked to have the bar while watching a 5-minute clip of the sitcom ‘Friends’, the second group was asked to eat the bar while walking around the corridor, and the third was asked to have it while having a conversation with a friend.

After this all the women were asked to complete a follow-up questionnaire and a taste test involving four different bowls of snacks, including chocolate, carrot sticks, grapes and crisps. How much they ate was measured after they left the room.

Researchers found that the women who had eaten the cereal bar while walking ate more snacks at the taste test and in specific terms, they ate five times more chocolate.

“Eating on the go may make dieters overeat later on in the day,” said lead author Professor Jane Ogden from the University of Surrey.

Researcher believe that walking is a powerful form of distraction that has the capability to disrupt our ability to process the impact eating has on our hunger. Or chances are that walking, which can be regarded as a form of exercise, justifies overeating later on as a form of reward.

Researchers do warn that even the other forms of distractions like watching TV and eating at desks while working could make you overeat which could eventually lead to weight gain and obesity. When our mind isn’t into eating completely, we often fall into the trap of mindless eating thereby losing track of what we just had, researchers say.

Ravi