TABLE 1.

Studies that examined the effects of distraction and increased attention on immediate intake

Authors	Participants and exclusion criteria	Study type and schedule	Food intake measure	Experimental conditions
Bellisle and Dalix, (16) 20011	n = 41	Repeated-measures design; 4 experimental sessions with 1 wk between sessions	Laboratory ad libitum lunch meal intake measured during sessions	4 conditions: during sessions, lunch eaten in presence of others, while listening to recorded radio drama (distraction), or while listening to recorded instructions focusing attention on food alone (increased attention) or alone (control)
	Adult females
	Mean age = 35.0 y
	Mean BMI = 21.3 kg/m2
Eligibility = aged 18–60 y, no declared pathology or current medical treatment
Bellisle et al, 2004 (19)	n = 48	Repeated-measures design; 4 experimental sessions with 1 wk between sessions	Laboratory ad libitum lunch meal intake measured during sessions	3 conditions: during sessions, lunch eaten alone (control: first and fourth sessions), while watching television, or while listening to recorded radio drama
	Adult females
	Mean age = 29.9 y
	Mean BMI = 22.3 kg/m2
Eligibility = 18–50 y, normal weight, no current medical treatment
Bellisle et al, 2009 (20)	n = 20	Repeated-measures design; 5 experimental sessions with 1 wk between sessions	Laboratory ad libitum lunch meal intake measured during sessions	5 conditions: during sessions, lunch eaten alone (control), with group of 3 other participants (not included in analysis), alone while watching television, alone while watching television food advertisements, or alone while listening to recorded radio drama; additional factor of participant restraint status (high compared with low restraint) was examined
	Adult females
	Mean age = 24 y
	Mean BMI = 22.0 kg/m2
Eligibility = normal weight, no declared pathology or pregnancy
Blass et al, 2006 (21)	n = 20	Repeated-measures design; 2 experimental sessions with 1 wk between sessions	Laboratory ad libitum lunch or evening meal intake measured during experimental sessions	2 conditions: during sessions, lunch or evening meal consumed while watching television or listening to music (control)
	Undergraduate male (n = 5) and female (n = 15) psychology students
	Mean age = not reported
	Mean BMI = 24.3 kg/m2
Eligibility = not reported
Boon et al, 1997 (22)Experiment 1	n = 55	Between-subjects design; single experimental session	Laboratory ad libitum snack intake measured in morning or afternoon during experimental session	2 conditions: meal consumed while listening to a radio program or while alone with no radio program (control); additional factor of participant restraint status (high compared with low restraint) was examined
	Female university students
	Mean age = 21.4 y
	Mean BMI = 22.4 kg/m2
Eligibility = not reported
Boon et al, 1997 (22)Experiment 2	n = 49	Between-subjects design; single experimental session	Laboratory ad libitum snack intake measured in morning or afternoon during experimental session	2 conditions: meal consumed while listening to a radio program or while eating alone with no radio program (control); additional factor of participant restraint status (high compared with low restraint) was examined
	Female university students
	Mean age = not reported
	Mean BMI = not reported
Eligibility = not reported
Boon et al, 2002 (23)	n = 122	Between-subjects design; single experimental session	Laboratory ad libitum snack intake measured in morning or afternoon during experimental session	2 conditions: meal consumed while listening to a radio program or while eating alone with no radio program (control); belief about food: participants led to believe that snack food was high or low in calories; additional factor of participant restraint status (high compared with low restraint) was examined
	Female university students
	Mean age = 21.2 y
	Mean BMI = 21.9 kg/m2
Eligibility = not reported
Hetherington et al, 2006 (24)	n = 37	Repeated-measures design; 4 experimental sessions ≥3 d apart with ≤2 sessions/wk	Laboratory ad libitum lunch meal intake measured during experimental session	4 conditions: during sessions, lunch consumed while alone (control), while watching television, while with unfamiliar others, or while with familiar others (neither social conditions included in analysis)
	Males (n = 21) and female (n = 16) university staff and students
	Mean age = 28.3 y
	Mean BMI = 23.9 kg/m2
Eligibility = good health, no allergies, no medication being taken
Long et al, 2011 (25)1	n = 27	Repeated-measures design; 3 experimental sessions with 1 wk between sessions	Laboratory ad libitum lunch or evening meal intake measured during experimental session	3 conditions: during sessions, lunch or evening meal consumed while alone (control), while listening to audio instructions to attend to sensory characteristics of food (increased attention), or while listening to a recorded radio play (distraction)
	Young female university students
	Mean age = 21.1 y
	Mean BMI = 23.8 kg/m2
Eligibility = no eating pathology history, no current medication with exception of oral contraceptive
Martin et al, 2009 (26)	n = 48	Repeated-measures design; 4 experimental sessions (2 at lunch and 2 at evening meal) completed during 2 consecutive days (4.5-h gap between lunch and evening meal)	Laboratory ad libitum lunch intake measured during experimental session	4 conditions: during sessions, lunch or evening meal consumed while alone (control), while reading, while watching television containing food advertisements, or while watching television containing no food advertisements
	Male (n = 22) and female (n = 26) adults
	Mean age = 31.9 y
	Mean BMI = 25.8 kg/m2
Eligibility = no medication affecting body weight, no chronic disease, no smokers, refusal to eat study food, irregular menstrual cycle

¹The study tested both distraction and increased attention on intake.