The Effect of Exposure to Food in Social Networks on Food Cravings and External Eating

NCT03731663 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 000000001
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 165
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background: Food practices are socially, culturally and historically embedded in everyday life. It is a common notion that people eat due to internal state of physiologic hunger but in fact the drive behind eating behaviors is much more complex. We eat, inter alia, because of our response to external cues such as the sight and smell of food, or external eating. Another related concept is food cravings: intense irresistible desires to consume a particular food that is distinct from hunger. Both external eating and food cravings have been associated with impulsivity, eating disorders and obesity. During recent decades the role of the media, and recently of the social media in our lives has grown significantly, and their influence on culture and society is now huge. A common activities on social media sites (SNS) is food viewing and posting pictures of tempting food, known as food porn. Food porn has been found to correlate with eating patterns and food-related attention and reward bias. The aim of this study is to conduct a controlled manipulation that may help us deduce causality as well as association. The investigators postulate that (1) viewing pictures of appetizing food will lead to higher rates of reported external eating and food craving than viewing pictures that are not food related; (2) Viewing these appetizing food pictures will lead participants to order different kinds of food and greater amounts; (3) The effect of viewing food pictures on external eating, food cravings and food orders will be greater for participants with high disturbed eating, then for participants without disturbed eating. Method: After providing informed consent, 150 female participants (aged 18-35) will self report on demographic variables, SNS food preoccupation and disturbed eating (EAT-26). They will then be randomly assigned to watch either a food porn or control video. They will complete measures of food cravings (FCQ-S) and external eating (DEBQ) after watching the video and asked to order food they would like to eat from a virtual menu.)

Conditions

Eating Habits and Behaviors, (UMLS)

Keywords

foodporn; food craving; external eating; disordered eating; social networks

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• External eating

  External eating will be assessed using the external eating scale in the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), a self-report questionnaire with good psychometric properties. The DEBQ measure restraint, emotional and external eating in different scales. The external eating scale contains ten statements scored on a five point Likret scale.

  Participants' external eating state will be measured immediately after the intervention. Up to 30 minuets after the end of intervention (The exact duration of questionnaire answering takes few minutes and varies between participants)

• Food cravings, state (situational)

  Food cravings (state) will be assessed using the Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-S), a self report questionnaire with good psychometric properties. The FCQ-S items are scaled on a five point Likret scale and measures five factors.

  Participants' food cravings state will be measured immediately after the intervention. Up to 30 minuets after the end of intervention (The exact duration of questionnaire answering takes few minutes and varies between participants).

• Type of ordered food

  Participants will be asked to order from a fixed menu the type of food they would like to eat immediately after the trial.

  Up to 30 minuets after the end of intervention.

• Amount of ordered food

  Participants will be asked to order from a fixed menu the amount of the chosen type of food they would like to eat immediately after the trial.

  Up to 30 minuets after the end of intervention.

Study Arms (2)

Appetizing Food exposure group

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants allocated to this group will watch a 3-minute video presenting a series of pictures of appetizing foods eaten in facilities in a tourist destination. An audio of a young adult describing herself eating these foods during a trip to London will be played.

Behavioral: Exposure to pictures of appetizing food (known as Foodporn)

Control content watching group

SHAM COMPARATOR

Participants allocated to this group will watch a 3-minute video presenting a series of control pictures of tourist attractions in London. An audio of a young adult describing herself visiting these sites during a trip will be played.

Behavioral: Exposure to neutral pictures

Interventions

Exposure to pictures of appetizing food (known as Foodporn) BEHAVIORAL

\- Participants allocated to the experimental group will watch a 3 minute video presenting a series of pictures of appetizing foods. An audio of a young adult describing herself eating these foods during a trip to London will be played.

Also known as: Experimental intervention

Appetizing Food exposure group

Exposure to neutral pictures BEHAVIORAL

Participants allocated to the control group will watch a 3 minute video presenting a series of control pictures of tourist attractions in London. An audio of a young adult describing herself visiting these sites during a trip will be played.

Also known as: Control intervention

Control content watching group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 35 Years
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age limits:
• Minimum (18), Unit of time (Years)
• Maximum (35) Unit of time (Years)
• Hebrew speaking, age 18-35

You may not qualify if:

• age (below 18 or over 35)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ruppin Acdemic Center: lead

Study Sites (1)

Ruppin academic center

Emek Hefer, 40250, Israel

Location

Related Publications (12)

• Bicen, H. (2015). Determination of University Students' Reasons of Using Social Networking Sites in their Daily Life. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 190, 519-522. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.05.036

  BACKGROUND

• Cepeda-Benito A, Gleaves DH, Fernandez MC, Vila J, Williams TL, Reynoso J. The development and validation of Spanish versions of the State and Trait Food Cravings Questionnaires. Behav Res Ther. 2000 Nov;38(11):1125-38. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00141-2.

  PMID: 11060941 BACKGROUND

• Coyne, S. M., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Howard, E. (2013). Emerging in a digital world: A decade review of media use, effects, and gratifications in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 1, 125-137.

  BACKGROUND

• Garner DM, Olmsted MP, Bohr Y, Garfinkel PE. The eating attitudes test: psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychol Med. 1982 Nov;12(4):871-8. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700049163.

  PMID: 6961471 BACKGROUND

• McHale SM, Dotterer A, Kim JY. An Ecological Perspective on the Media and Youth Development. Am Behav Sci. 2009 Apr;52(8):1186-1203. doi: 10.1177/0002764209331541.

  PMID: 22247564 BACKGROUND

• Mejova, Y., Abbar, S., & Haddadi, H. (2016). Fetishizing food in digital age:# foodporn around the world. Retrieved from http://arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.00229.

  BACKGROUND

• Neely E, Walton M, Stephens C. Young people's food practices and social relationships. A thematic synthesis. Appetite. 2014 Nov;82:50-60. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.07.005. Epub 2014 Jul 10.

  PMID: 25017130 BACKGROUND

• Ruderman AJ. Dietary restraint: a theoretical and empirical review. Psychol Bull. 1986 Mar;99(2):247-62. No abstract available.

  PMID: 3515384 BACKGROUND

• Santarossa, Sara, (2015)

  BACKGROUND

• Schachter S, Goldman R, Gordon A. Effects of fear, food deprivation, and obesity on eating. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1968 Oct;10(2):91-7. doi: 10.1037/h0026284. No abstract available.

  PMID: 5725907 BACKGROUND

• Spence C, Okajima K, Cheok AD, Petit O, Michel C. Eating with our eyes: From visual hunger to digital satiation. Brain Cogn. 2016 Dec;110:53-63. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2015.08.006. Epub 2015 Oct 1.

  PMID: 26432045 BACKGROUND

• Van Strien, T., Frijters, J. E., Bergers, G., & Defares, P. B. (1986). The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) for assessment of restrained, emotional, and external eating behavior. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5, 295-315.

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding Behavior; Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior, Animal

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: After receiving an explanation about the study and providing informed consent online, participants will complete questionnaires assessing demographic variables, SNS food preoccupation and disturbed eating online via Qualtrics link. Participants will then be randomly assigned to view a video clip showing pictures of either appetizing pictures of food (experimental group) or sightseeing pictures in a tourist destination (control group). After viewing the video, participants will respond to online questionnaire measuring external eating and food cravings, and will also be asked to order food they would like to eat immediately from a hypothetical menu.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 29, 2017
• First Posted: November 6, 2018
• Study Start: April 12, 2018
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2018
• Study Completion: August 1, 2018
• Last Updated: November 6, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

IL (1)