Substituting Snacks With Strawberries and Sudokus: Does Restraint Matter?

Objective: Prior research demonstrates that fruit/vegetables and sedentary activities can serve as substitutes for high-calorie snack foods, when the behavioral costs for obtaining snack food increase. The current study investigated if fruit/vegetables are better substitutes for snacks than sedentar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health psychology 2010-03, Vol.29 (2), p.222-226
Main Authors: Giesen, Janneke C. A. H, Havermans, Remco C, Jansen, Anita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Biological and medical sciences
Body Mass Index
Choice Behavior
Diet, Reducing - psychology
Dietary Restraint
Eating Behavior
Energy Intake
Feeding Behavior - psychology
Female
Food
Fragaria
Fruit
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Games
Healthy food
Human
Humans
Hunger
Illness and personality
Individual differences
Male
Medical sciences
Metabolic diseases
Motivation
Obesity
Personality, behavior and health
Psychology and medicine
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reinforcement
Reinforcement Schedule
Restraints
Sedentary
Sedentary Lifestyle
Snacks
Task performance
Vegetables
Young Adult
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: Prior research demonstrates that fruit/vegetables and sedentary activities can serve as substitutes for high-calorie snack foods, when the behavioral costs for obtaining snack food increase. The current study investigated if fruit/vegetables are better substitutes for snacks than sedentary activities are and whether individual differences in dietary restraint play a role in how snacks are being substituted. Design: Participants ( n = 59) performed a concurrent schedules task, in which fruit/vegetables, sedentary activities, and snacks were simultaneously available. The response requirement for earning snacks increased per trial. Afterward, dietary restraint was measured. Main Outcome Measures: The amount of responses for snacks per trial and the amount of points earned for fruit/vegetables and sedentary activity per trial. Results: When snacks are harder to obtain, participants increased working for both fruit/vegetables and sedentary activities. No differences were found for dietary restraint in the way snacks were substituted. However, high-restrained participants worked harder for snack foods than low-restrained participants. Conclusion: Fruit/vegetables and sedentary activities are both equally viable substitutes for high-calorie snacks. High-calorie snacks have a higher reinforcing value for highly restrained eaters.
ISSN:0278-6133
1930-7810
DOI:10.1037/a0017436