To stream or not to stream? Watching TV while eating promotes increased snack consumption, but using a smartphone does not.

Abstract

Background: The integration of technology throughout daily life has become a pervasive environmental influence with wide-ranging implications, including on how we eat. Previous research demonstrates that simultaneously eating and watching television (TV) leads to increased food consumption. However, the effects of smartphone use are still uncertain as the limited existing research has yielded conflicting findings.

Method: Under the guise of being a study about multitasking, this research experimentally tested the influence of using technology (either TV or a smartphone) while eating compared to while eating undistracted among college students (N = 114).

Results: Participants ate significantly more while watching TV versus while not. This difference was not observed among those using a smartphone.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that TV viewing likely continues to promote overeating, but smartphone use may not be associated with concurrent increased consumption. Nonetheless, future research is needed to understand effects on subsequent eating as well as interactive effects between smartphone use and TV viewing in modulating eating behavior.