Scrolling While We Eat: Can It Lead to Overeating?

We've all been there - catching up on emails while inhaling breakfast or checking social media over dinner. But what if this multitasking habit is hurting our relationship with food?

A new study suggests screen time while eating might be linked to less mindful eating, difficulty listening to your body's hunger cues, and increased risk of emotional eating.

Why? Screens distract from feeling connected to the action of eating, making it harder to tune into our body's hunger and fullness cues. When we scroll and eat, our brains are forced to spread our attention between multiple tasks (watching, processing information, and eating) and we are more likely not to notice that we have had enough to eat until we are actually overfull. 

Additionally, scrolling and eating might lead us to eating too fast and eating bigger portions than we actually need to feel full. Ever sit down with a bag of chips and think you will just eat a few, only to be staring at the bottom of the bag feeling stuffed and regretful?

You might be thinking, what does it matter if I eat in front of a screen? Full is when I’m physically full, so I will just stop when I’m full.  Actually, feeling physically full doesn’t just start in the stomach, we also have to communicate that to the brain.  That communication process can take 20 to 30 minutes for the body to communicate to the brain that you have had enough to eat.  

So what really happens from the time you take a bite to when you’re feeling full?

Scientists think that it goes like this: You start eating and your stomach starts expanding to accommodate the food. As that expansion happens, nerves send signals to the brain that your stomach is starting to fill up.  Then, the hormone leptin gets released.  When the hormone reaches your brain, it starts to realize that you’re full. 

When we scroll and eat, we are less likely to be mindful while eating. This means we are less focused on the present moment and less likely to eat based on their body's needs.  In other words, it's easier to ignore the physical symptoms of being full as well as the signals in our brain telling us we have had enough to eat. 

What the study found:

People who used screens more while eating had lower scores in mindfulness and intuitive eating and those with lower mindfulness scores were also more likely to struggle with disordered eating.

What is mindful eating? 

Mindful eating is taking the time to be fully present in the moment, without judgment, while consuming food.  This allows us to enjoy our food more, listen to our hunger and fullness cues, and helps us feel more satisfied at our meals.  Unfortunately, for many of us, we have grown up rushing through our meals at school, have limited breaks to eat while at work, and have fallen into the common habit of eating while in front of a screen. 

To get better at mindful eating, it has to become a skill that we practice daily.  The more you do it, the easier and more natural it becomes. Below are my top 6 tips to begin practicing mindful eating. 

1. Start by practicing eating undistracted at one meal a day.  I would choose the one where it would be easiest to do this.  For many people that would be dinner time.  Sit at your eating table with nothing else except your food, drink, and utensils. 

   
   

2. If other people live with you, invite them to eat with you and connect with conversation.  This allows you to slow down and take breaks between bites.  The longer your meal takes, the better chance your brain has to be more receptive to the fullness cues your body is sending. (And bonus, you get quality time with someone you care about.) 

   
   

3. Eat slowly.  Aim to spend at least 20 minutes eating your food. If this is hard for you, treat it like a game.  If the first night you eat your meal in 7 minutes, each night, challenge yourself to eat for 1 or 2 minutes longer until you reach 20+ minutes at the meal. 

   
   

4. Treat your meal like a wine tasting. Smell your food. Take the time to really taste each bite.  Chew thoroughly and breathe between bites. 

   
   

5. Know the fullness scale.  On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being very hungry- give me food now  to 10 is overstuffed, in pain and you need to put on stretchy pants, you want to eat until you feel like an 8.  8 feels like eating until you are satisfied, not stuffed.  9 feels like full  and 10 feels like overfull. 

   
   

6. Silence your phone or download an app that allows you to make boundaries around meal time so that you’re not tempted to look at your phone and break your mindful eating practice.  

   
   

The Takeaway?

Minimize screen time during meals. This allows us to reconnect with our internal cues and build self-awareness around eating habits.

So the next time you are tempted to reach for your phone during a meal, consider pausing and remember that creating the practice of eating with just the food in front of you is not only relaxing, satisfying, and a way for you to connect with your body’s needs, it's also a simple practice that benefits your long term health. 

Rose Peterson is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach and Founder of RP Fitness & Nutrition. Since 2017, she has helped clients locally and remotely all over the world, reach their health and fitness goals while also creating structure, consistency, and healthy habits for lifelong success.

To learn more about working with Coach Rose, visit www.coachrosepeterson.com

For your complimentary consultation you can email Coach Rose at hello@coachrosepeterson.com

References:

He J, Wang Z, Fu Y, Wang Y, Yi S, Ji F, et al. Associations between screen use while eating and eating disorder symptomatology: Exploring the roles of mindfulness and intuitive eating. Appetite. 2024 Jun 1;197:107320–0.