Monitoring eating behaviour in the laboratory. Do we need to do it covertly?

Thomas, J.M.; Dourish, C.T.; Higgs, S.

Monitoring eating behaviour in the laboratory. Do we need to do it covertly?

2013

Thomas, J.M. | Dourish, C.T. | Higgs, S.

Numerous studies have covertly examined eating behaviour in the laboratory with a Universal Eating Monitor (UEM). However, using this method, participants might behave in a way that disrupts the recording of their eating behaviour (e.g. accidentally leaning on the hidden scales). To date, no study has directly investigated whether a covert approach is necessary and whether awareness of a UEM affects eating behaviour. To assess this factor, we recruited participants to eat an ad-libitum lunch of pasta followed by an ad-libitum snack of cookies. Participants were either made explicitly aware of the UEM and informed that it would be recording their food intake (aware condition), or were not told about the UEM (non-aware condition). Participants in the non-aware condition were questioned at the end of the study to confirm whether they were aware or non-aware during their session. Analysis of various measures of eating (e.g. total amount eaten, duration of eating) and eating microstructure (e.g. number of mouthfuls eaten, eating rate) showed no significant difference between aware or non-aware groups. We conclude that awareness of the UEM does not significantly affect eating behaviour, and that a covert approach is not required.

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