SHORT COMMUNICATION The office candy dish: proximity's influence on estimated and actual consumption

Kyungpook National University,South KoreaObjective and purpose: Although there is increasing interest in how environmental factors influence food intake, there aremixed results and misunderstandings of how proximity and visibility influence consumption volume and contribute to obesity.The objective of this paper is to examine two questions: first, how does the proximity and salience of a food influenceconsumption volume? Second, are proximate foods consumed more frequently because they are proximate, or are theyconsumed more frequently because people lose track of how much they eat?Research methods and procedures: The 4-week study involved the chocolate candy consumption of 40 adult secretaries. Thestudy utilized a 2 2 within-subject design where candy proximity was crossed with visibility. Proximity was manipulated byplacing the chocolates on the desk of the participant or 2m from the desk. Visibility was manipulated by placing the chocolatesin covered bowls that were either clear or opaque. Chocolates were replenished each evening, and placement conditions wererotated every Monday. Daily consumption was noted and follow-up questionnaires were distributed and analyzed.Results: There were main effects for both proximity and visibility. People ate an average of 2.2 more candies each day when theywere visible, and 1.8 candies more when they were proximately placed on their desk vs 2m away. It is important to note,however, that there was a significant tendency for participants to consistently underestimate their daily consumption ofproximately placed candies ( 0.9) and overestimate their daily consumption of less proximately placed candies (þ0.5).Discussion: These results show that the proximity and visibility of a food can consistently increase an adult’s consumption of it.In addition, these results suggest that people may be biased to overestimate the consumption of foods that are less proximate,and to underestimate those that are more proximate. Knowing about these deviation tendencies is important for thoseattempting effectively monitor their consumption of fat and sugar.International Journal of Obesity (2006) 30, 871–875. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803217; published online 17 January 2006Keywords: consumption; proximity; convenience visibility; candy; estimation; salience; food intake