Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Aug 2, 2020
Date Accepted: Apr 11, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Characterizing meal-time smartphone use in an obesogenic environment: Report of two observational studies using the experience sampling method
ABSTRACT
Background:
Despite a large volume of research on the impact of other digital screens (e.g., televisions) on eating behavior, little is known about the nature and impact of meal-time smartphone use.
Objective:
We investigated: (1) how smartphones are used in everyday meals, (2) whether phone users differ according to meal-time phone use patterns, and (3) whether specific phone functions (particularly food photography) would affect the amount and enjoyment of food eaten.
Methods:
Across 2 studies, we used the experience sampling method to track 1780 meals in situ. In Study 1, 137 young adults reported on their meal-time smartphone use 3 times/d over 7 consecutive days. This corresponded to each main meal, with participants recording whether they used their phones and what phone functions they engaged in while eating. In Study 2, 71 young adults were similarly tracked for 3 meals/d over 7 days. Across the week, participants’ meals were randomized to one of three smartphone conditions–food photography while eating, non-food photography while eating, or no phone use. As the outcome measures, participants reported on the amount and enjoyment of food they ate.
Results:
During the week-long tracking, most participants (85.3%) recorded at least one instance of meal-time smartphone use, with an average frequency of 1 in 3 meals where phones were used (95% CI: 23.6%, 30.6%). Unlike traditional digital screens, meal-time phone use encompassed a wide range of social and non-social activities. Further, specific forms of phone use influenced appetite regulation in different ways: in Study 2, participants showed the typical pattern of increased food intake across the day when they engaged in non-food photography during a meal (P < 0.001); however, this pattern was disrupted when they engaged in food photography (P = 0.73).
Conclusions:
Our findings underscore the prevalence and multi-faceted nature of meal-time smartphone use, distinguishing mobile phones from traditional forms of digital screens. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03299075 & NCT03346785
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