英语原文

People eat more when they are glued to the television, and the more entertaining the program, the more they eat, according to a recent research.

It seems that distracted brains do not notice what the mouth is doing, said Dr. Alan Hirsch, neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. Hirsch explored the impact of smell, taste and eating behaviors while watching TV by measuring potato chip consumption.

Forty-five volunteers ate as many chips as they wanted during five-minute intervals over three-week periods while they watched monologues by late-night talk show hosts David Letterman and Jay Leno. They also were given chips to eat when the television was off.

Hirsch found people ate an average of 44 percent more chips while watching Letterman and 42 percent more while viewing Leno, than when they did not watch TV.

"If you can concentrate on how the food tastes you'll eat less because you'll feel full faster," Hirsch said, "So if that's the case, let's look at the opposite. What if you're distracted? If you're distracted, in theory, then you'd eat more."

中文翻译
据最近一项研究显示，当人们目不转睛地盯着电视看时，他们会吃得更多，而且，节目的娱乐性越强，人们吃得就越多。

看样子似乎走神的大脑根本没有注意到嘴巴正在做什么。艾伦·赫希博士这样说道。他是位于美国芝加哥的嗅觉与味觉治疗研究基金会的神经学主任。通过计量炸薯片的消耗量，赫希做了有关看电视对味觉、嗅觉和饮食行为产生影响的研究。

在三周多的时间里，45位志愿者连续观看午夜脱口秀节目主持人戴维·莱特曼和杰伊·莱诺的滔滔独白。此间他们想吃多少炸薯片就吃多少，中间会有五分钟的休息时间。在没看电视时，也有炸薯片供应。

赫希发现，与没看电视的时候相比，志愿者们在观看莱特曼的节目时平均多吃了44%的炸薯片，而在看莱诺的节目时则多吃了42%的炸薯片。

“如果你能把注意力集中在食物的味道上，就会吃得少一些，因为你会更快地感觉到饱胀感，”赫希博士说。“那么如果这个结论的确成立，让我们来看看相反的情况。如果你的注意力没集中在吃上，将会怎样呢？理论上，如果你走神了，就会吃得更多。”