AUTHOR=Teo Ethan , Goh Daniel , Vijayakumar Kamalakannan M. , Liu Jean C. J. TITLE=To Message or Browse? Exploring the Impact of Phone Use Patterns on Male Adolescents’ Consumption of Palatable Snacks JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02298 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02298 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

Surveys of mobile phone usage suggest that adolescents habitually use their phones while eating. In this study, we explored whether the manner in which one uses a mobile phone – to engage in a social or non-social activity – can affect appetite regulation. Participants were fifty male adolescents randomly assigned to engage in one of the following phone-based activities: (1) sending and receiving messages (social activity), or (2) reading a neutral article (non-social activity). When given the opportunity to snack, participants in the messaging group consumed more snacks that those who read the article. Our findings correspond to a large literature emphasizing social influences on food intake, and suggest that phone use patterns may predispose an individual to overeating.