How eating behavior, food stimuli and gender may affect visual attention – An eye tracking study

The objective of this 2018 study was to examine if there is a correlation between patterns in eating behaviors with visual attention to food cues. This article also considered the effect of gender in this equation. Mobile eye tracking technology was used to measure visual attention to food cues, while the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) was applied to determine participants’ eating behavior patterns (where it be restrained, emotional, or external eating). The results revealed the influential effect of restrained eating behavior on visual attention. Moreover, men who showed higher degrees of restrained eating behavior also paid more attention to low-calorie food cues. Women, on the other hand, had a notable association with emotional eating behavior. The women with higher levels of emotional eating behaviors were found to pay more visual attention to food cues. This study highlights the potential effect of gender on relationships between eating behavior and visual attention. [NPID: eating behavior, gender, visual attention, restrained eating, emotional eating, food calories]

Year: 2018

Reference: Hummel, G., Ehret, J., Zerweck, I., Winter, S. S., & Stroebele-Benschop, N. (2018). How eating behavior, food stimuli and gender may affect visual attention - An eye tracking study. Eating behaviors, 31, 60–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2018.08.002

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