--- title: Boring TV Shows Make You Eat 52% More description: Researchers say the connection may have to do with a show's pacing canonical: https://time.com/2973947/boring-tv-shows-eat-more/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-11T10:00:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:05:11.601Z article:section: Health og:title: Boring TV Shows Make You Eat 52% More og:description: Researchers say the connection may have to do with a show's pacing og:url: https://time.com/2973947/boring-tv-shows-eat-more/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98a568f22e9604d6/69869b55d0b6f26c6b3053e0/man-watching-tv-bored-eating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2957 og:image:height: 1663 og:image:alt: Man watching TV bored and eating og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Boring TV Shows Make You Eat 52% More twitter:description: Researchers say the connection may have to do with a show's pacing twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98a568f22e9604d6/69869b55d0b6f26c6b3053e0/man-watching-tv-bored-eating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Boring TV Shows Make You Eat 52% More > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=6195ae85-98b9-45a6-af23-aa744d1f6bbe&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Prevention](https://time.com/author/prevention/) ## Prevention Jul 11, 2014 10:00 AM UTC  Man watching TV Man watching TV Notorious91—Getty Images by [Prevention](https://time.com/author/prevention/) ## Prevention Jul 11, 2014 10:00 AM UTC Need another reason to kick back with a jaw-dropping episode of _Orange Is the New Black_? Didn’t think so—but here’s one anyway. A new study suggests there may be benefits for women who choose riveting TV programs over snoozers: We seem to eat less during the nail-biters. That’s the conclusion of a group of researchers at Sweden’s Uppsala University, who studied 18 women while they snacked and watched different types of TV programming: an “engaging” episode of a popular Swedish comedy show and a “boring” televised art lecture. As a control, the researchers also monitored grazing during another “non-engaging” activity: reading a text on insects living in Sweden (seriously, we couldn’t make that last part up). The results showed that boring content increased snacking by a surprisingly weighty margin. While watching boring TV, women consumed 52% more food than during the engaging comedy. This trend held up across different media, too: Subjects ate 35% less while watching engaging TV than while reading about insects. (Work On Your trouble spots during commercial breaks with this [**couch potato workout plan**](http://www.prevention.com/fitness/strength-training/couch-potatos-workout?cid=Synd%5FTime%5FBoringTVShowsMakeYouEaT52PercentMore%5FArticle%5FJuly09%5FCouchPotatoWorkout).) The study authors conclude that it’s the level of excitement in our TV shows that may determine the amount we chow—not the act of watching (or reading) itself. “At very low levels of engagement, you kind of eat to engage yourself because you’re bored,” says Aner Tal, a research associate at Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab, an organization devoted to the study of how and why we eat the way we do. “It might also have to do with the pacing,” he suggests. A rapid-fire story, for example, could speed your rate of eating. Of course, whether it’s a sleepy Sunday Antiques Roadshow marathon or an edge-of-your-seat Game of Thrones binge, watching TV is still a setup for overdoing it on the munchies. Your healthiest bet is to snack smarter while couch-bound. “Use pre-portioned snacks as opposed to endless bowls,” advises Tal. That means keeping the source of food out of sight, too. “If you know you have a tendency to overeat while watching TV,” he adds, “just snack on something that’s better for you. Have veggies as a snack instead of chips.” And maybe a side of excitement or action, too—anything but art lectures and insects. **MORE:** [**15 Terrible Snacks For Weight Loss**](http://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-tips/15-worst-snacks-weight-loss?cid=Synd%5FTime%5FBoringTVShowsMakeYouEaT52PercentMore%5FArticle%5FJuly09%5F15TerribleSnacksForWeightLoss) [This article was written by Caroline Praderio and originally appeared on Prevention.com.](http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/boring-tv-shows-could-increase-negative-eating-habits?cid=Synd%5FTime%5FBoringTVShowsMakeYouEaT52PercentMore%5F%5FJuly09%5FBoringTVShowsMakeYouEaT52PercentMore) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2973947/boring-tv-shows-eat-more/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2973947/boring-tv-shows-eat-more/"},"headline":"Boring TV Shows Make You Eat 52% More","datePublished":"2014-07-11T10:00:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:05:11.601Z","description":"Researchers say the connection may have to do with a show's pacing","url":"https://time.com/2973947/boring-tv-shows-eat-more/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Nutrition","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98a568f22e9604d6/69869b55d0b6f26c6b3053e0/man-watching-tv-bored-eating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Prevention","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/prevention/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt98a568f22e9604d6/69869b55d0b6f26c6b3053e0/man-watching-tv-bored-eating.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Man watching TV bored and eating","caption":"Man watching TV bored and eating","creditText":"Notorious91—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2973947/boring-tv-shows-eat-more/","name":"Boring TV Shows Make You Eat 52% More"}}]}] ```