Studies cooking shows make viewers fat

Study: Five kilos more through cooking shows

03/20/2015

Cooking shows enjoy great popularity. Whether the cooking is filmed at home stove by a camera crew or a large TV cooking studio is built - convince the ratings. No wonder that there are always new cooking show formats in the television landscape. A Cornell University Food and Brand Lab study shows cooking shows indirectly impact the weight of their viewers. Thus, the study participants, who at the same time cooked the presented recipe while watching a cooking show, on average weighed more kilos than women, who only saw the show as entertainment.

In cooking shows advertising is often integrated
Anyone who cooks while watching a cooking show, weighs on average five kilos more than spectators who watch the show just for entertainment. So the result of the study. Apparently, the hobby cooks can be influenced by advertising and unhealthy products. „Attractive for many users is advertising, which integrates them rather than just passive customers. For example, advertising that appeals to creativity and joie de vivre and connects them with their products, "explains media psychologist Christian Roth to the news agency „Press Release“.

Abundance in cooking shows affects the eating habits of spectators
The study involved 501 women aged 20 to 55 years. They had to provide information about their cooking habits and the source of their recipes. As it turned out, the amateur cooks, who watch cooking shows and cook the presented recipes, weigh on average five kilos more than the women who search their recipes on the Internet or in cookbooks. Similarly, the study participants were easier, although they watch cooking shows, but seldom cook themselves.

Recipes from cooking shows are not always healthy
„One reason for this phenomenon might be that the prescriptions presented on television are not always the healthiest but give the feeling that it is okay to cook them and be lenient that they either have low nutritious foods or larger portions, "co-author Brian Wansink, professor and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, cites in a statement from the university.

„With many cooking programs normalizing the over-consumption of certain products, it's no wonder that audiences' culinary habits are negatively impacted, "says lead author Lizzy Pope. „That is why it is so important for the chefs who watch these shows to recognize these influences and to learn to change the recipes to healthier varieties or to find recipes from other sources. "The study results were published in the journal „appetite“ released.