Bored People Crave Unhealthy Foods, Study Shows

In the first study the researchers asked 52 participants to complete a questionnaire on their food preferences before and after completing the boredom-inducing task of repeatedly copying the same group of letters.

In the second study they asked 45 participants to watch either a boring or a funny video, during which a range of healthy (nuts, fruit and salad items) and unhealthy (crisps, sweets and fast food) snacks were available. The bowls were weighed before and after each trial to how much of each snack had been eaten.

 

The results from the first study showed people were more likely to express a preference for unhealthy foods like crisps, sweets and fast food after completing the boring task (which was rated so in a pilot study).

 

The results from the second study showed that the participants who had watched the boring video ate significantly more unhealthy food.

 

Dr Mann said: “These results are in line with previous research suggesting that we crave fatty and sugary foods when we are bored. This strengthens the theory that boredom is related to low levels of the stimulating brain chemical dopamine and that people try to boost this by eating fat and sugar if they cannot alleviate their boredom in some other way.”

 

“People designing health education campaigns to encourage us to make healthier food choices need to take boredom, including boredom in the workplace, into account. Bored people do not eat nuts.”

 

There’s also advice for the food industry, as Mann told NutritionInsight: “I think the food industry needs to do more to understand people’s motivations and psychology when it comes to food choices. The ‘five a day’ [fruit and vegetable] message is great but it ignores the emotional reasons for food choices; we need to address these a bit more if we are to really impact on healthy eating.”