Why do we have to eat when we're bored?

Introduction

Boredom is a common emotional state that can significantly influence eating behaviors. Research has explored the relationship between boredom and eating, suggesting that people often eat to escape the monotony and lack of stimulation associated with boredom. This synthesis examines the key findings from multiple studies to understand why boredom leads to increased food consumption.

Key Insights

Escape from Monotony: Boredom drives individuals to eat as a means to escape the monotony and lack of stimulation in their environment. This behavior is not necessarily driven by a desire for rewarding stimulation but rather to avoid the feeling of boredom itself .
Distraction from Boredom: Eating serves as a distraction from the lack of meaning and engagement in the present situation. This is particularly true for individuals with high objective self-awareness, who are more likely to consume both unhealthy and exciting healthy foods when bored.
Emotional Content and Eating: The type of content being consumed (e.g., TV shows) can influence eating behavior. Boring content leads to increased food intake, while engaging content can reduce it. This suggests that the emotional engagement of the activity plays a significant role in concurrent eating behaviors.
Pandemic-Related Boredom: During the COVID-19 pandemic, increased feelings of boredom were associated with more frequent snacking and lower scores in intuitive eating, although overall diet quality did not differ significantly. This indicates that boredom can negatively impact eating habits, leading to more frequent, less mindful eating.
Emotional Triggers: Boredom is a significant emotional trigger for eating, especially among individuals seeking obesity treatment. This trigger is consistent across sexes, although women may experience higher emotional eating scores related to other emotions like depression and anger.

Conclusion

Boredom significantly influences eating behaviors, primarily as a means to escape the monotony and lack of stimulation. This behavior is driven by the need to distract oneself from the feeling of boredom rather than a desire for rewarding stimulation. The type of activity and its emotional engagement can modulate this effect, with more engaging activities reducing the likelihood of eating. During periods of increased boredom, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals are more likely to snack frequently and less mindfully. Understanding these dynamics can help in developing strategies to mitigate boredom-induced eating, particularly in individuals prone to emotional eating.

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Why do we have to eat when we're bored?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Eating and inflicting pain out of boredom

Boredom promotes eating and self-inflicting pain, mainly driven by the drive to escape monotony, rather than an increased desire for rewarding stimulation.

Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to escape awareness of the bored self

Boredom increases eating to distract from the experience, with more exciting, healthy foods serving as an alternative to maladaptive consumption.

Watching TV and Food Intake: The Role of Content

Boring TV encourages excessive eating, while Engaging TV reduces intake, suggesting emotional content is more important than the mode of delivery for food intake during TV viewing.

Differing Experiences of Boredom During the Pandemic and Associations With Dietary Behaviors.

Eating due to boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased snacking and lower intuitive eating scores, potentially impacting diet quality.

A Comparison of Emotional Triggers for Eating in Men and Women with Obesity

Boredom is the most common and strongest emotional trigger for eating in people with obesity, regardless of sex or treatment, and understanding this link may help personalize lifestyle interventions.

Boredom and eating in obese and non-obese individuals.

Boredom significantly increases food consumption for both obese and non-obese individuals, but the predicted interaction between weight and task was not found.

Eating when bored: revision of the emotional eating scale with a focus on boredom.

Eating when bored is a distinct construct from other negative emotions, and should be considered a separate dimension of emotional eating.

Distraction, the desire to eat and food intake. Towards an expanded model of mindless eating

Distractions like watching television and driving increase food intake without affecting the desire to eat, supporting an expanded model of mindless eating.

Consumed by Boredom: Food Choice Motivation and Weight Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic led to people choosing food more for convenience and less for health reasons, with no significant impact on overall weight changes.

Food craving, dietary restraint and mood

Food cravings are not solely caused by food deprivation, but rather are closely associated with mood, particularly as an antecedent and consequence of cravings.

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