Social distance regulation for control of COVID-19 may foster the global obesity pandemic: Social distancing increases the desire for food [post]

Yevvon Yi-Chi Chang, Wen-Hsiung Wu, Wen-Bin Chiou
2020 unpublished
Social distance regulations have been suggested as one of the best ways to control and prevent the spread of coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19). Social connection and food are intertwined because both have played critical evolutionary roles in human survival. We tested whether the substitutability hypothesis in human motivation applies here in that cues signaling scarcity in one domain (e.g., social connection) might enhance the desire to acquire resources in another domain (e.g., food). In a
more » ... ratory experiment (N = 118), we found that, compared with controls, participants primed with social distancing consumed more ice cream in a taste test and reported a greater likelihood that they would engage in binge eating if they were placed in home quarantine. We may be the first to provide experimental evidence that social distancing can enhance the desire for food. The link between social distancing and the desire for food is pertinent to understanding how strongly social distance regulations may influence weight gain. Our findings have far-reaching implications for weight control under social distance regulations for prevention and control of COVID-19.
doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-80438/v1 fatcat:dyivfuswj5hplloscgvzb5xgdi