
You're smart enough to know that take-out pizza doesn't look as good as on TV. Same with the chips, the candy bars, and ice cream. But your stomach might disagree, and lead you to eat more when you're channel surfing.

As anyone who's watched television for 10 minutes knows, junk food is everywhere. Children and adults alike, according to a recent Yale University study, eat when they're not hungry when gloriously bad-for-you foods are displayed:

One test found that children aged 7 to 11 who watched a half-hour cartoon that included food commercials ate 45 percent more snack food while watching the show than children who watched the same cartoon with non-food commercials. ... In another experiment, adults who saw TV ads for unhealthy foods ate much more than those who saw ads that featured messages about good nutrition or healthy food.


How does one fight "automatic eating?" Being sure to skip the commercials—TiVo forwarding or walking away for a minute should do the trick. If snacking is something you're doing because you actually get hungry at TV time, try eating one substantial snack instead of lots of little bits, or switching to nuts, yogurt, or other high protein/low calorie snacks.

Break the Snack Habit Real Simple has an intriguing article on how to break bad eating habits, including snacking… Read more

Not convinced skipping the commercials can fight the snacking urge? Got a better way to keep away from cravings? Tell us your trick in the comments.

TV Ads Trigger Mindless Eating [US News and World Report]