Watching Hollywood Action Flicks Can Make you Fat, Study

In a latest study, a team of researchers has stated that Hollywood action flicks are bad for health as it increases consumption of food by the viewers.

Most of the reports have blamed television (TV) viewing for excess body weight among Americans. This is because TV viewing encourages sedentary lifestyle. TV is like any other distracting activity that makes people eat more. Till date, not much has been known on whether the content or the pace of the content significantly influences the quantity of food consumed.

The study led by researchers at the Cornell University found that an action-packed Hollywood flick influences the fans to eat more. When compared to the slow-paced flicks, the fast-paced shows make their viewers indulge more in snacks.

In this study, the researchers evaluated how the content of the action flick influenced the quantity of food eaten. For this, they looked at the objective technical characteristics like frequency of visual camera or the difference in sound. They observed 94 graduate students that included 57 females whose mean age was 20 years.

The groups initially came together to watch 20 minutes of TV after which they were randomly divided into 1 of the 3 programs. The three programs included: an excerpt from 'The Island', the action movie starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson; the interview program 'Charlie Rose'; and the identical excerpt from 'The Island' that had no sounds.

The snacks provided to the participants while watching the programs included M&Ms, carrots, cookies and grapes. The researchers weighed the snacks before and after the program to evaluate the amount of snacks the viewers consumed.

The researchers noticed that 98 percent more grams of food was eaten by those viewing 'The Island' - the distracting program with high camera cuts and sound variations. They consumed 65 percent more calories as compared to those watching 'Charlie Rose'. The students watching the silent version of 'The Island' consumed 36 percent more grams of food and 46 percent more calories than those watching 'Charlie Rose'.

"More distracting TV content appears to increase food consumption: action and sound variation are bad for one's diet. The more distracting a TV show, the less attention people appear to pay to eating, and the more they eat," said Aner Tal, Ph. D., Cornell University.

The finding was published in JAMA Networks Journals.