Could action TV make you fat?

CHICAGO — Could action-packed TV fare make you fat?

That’s the implication of a new study that found people snacked more watching fast-paced television than viewing a more leisurely-paced talk show.

Cornell University researchers randomly assigned almost 100 undergraduates to watch one of three 20-minute sessions featuring The Island, a 2005 sci-fi thriller starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor; that same movie but without the sound; or the television interview programme, the Charlie Rose show. The students were all provided generous amounts of cookies, M&M candies, carrots and grapes.

During The Island, students ate on average about 207g of various snacks amounting to 354 calories. That was almost 140 calories more and nearly double the amount they ate watching interviewer Charlie Rose. While watching the movie without sound, they also ate more — almost 100 calories more — than during Charlie Rose.

The theory is that the faster-paced TV seemed to distract viewers more, contributing to mindless eating, said Cornell researcher Aner Tal, the study’s lead author. The results suggest a steady diet of action TV could raise risks for packing on the pounds.

That said, the study was small and didn’t last long enough to measure any long-term effects on the students’ weight. It’s also possible some viewers would find talk shows or other slower-paced TV more distracting and be more apt to snack more during those shows than when watching action-packed programmes.

However, a way to curb putting on the pounds, Tal suggested, was for viewers to take steps to prevent mindless snacking, by avoiding or limiting high-calorie snacks when watching TV. AP