Snacking at your keyboard makes you eat more

Research study shows distraction during one meal can lead to increased food intake later in the day.

LONDON: Eating at your desk and working on the computer makes you far more likely to snack later in the day, says a research conducted at the University of Bristol.

The research, studying the ways in which memory and attention influence our appetite, asked one group of participants to eat a lunch comprising of nine different foods while playing Solitaire – a computerized card-sorting game, reports the Daily Mail. A second group was provided with the same lunch, but with no distractions.

The researchers found that those who played Solitaire felt less full after lunch. Those who played the computer game ate twice as many chocolate biscuits as the non-distracted participants.

At the end of the test session, the distracted participants also found it more difficult to remember what order they had eaten the food items provided for lunch.

The scientists said their findings showed that distraction during one meal can lead to increased food intake later in the day, which could have a significant impact on obesity.

Lead author Jeff Brunstrom from Bristol University said: "When people think about memory, they think about remembering shopping lists and people's names and things like that."

Previous studies have noted a similar effect at work on people who eat while watching TV.