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Fast-food interiors provoke overeating
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Very often, extra folds on the stomach are not a consequence of hormonal imbalances or other diseases, but simply the consequences of banal overeating.
Fast food restaurant decor encourages people to eat more. This is the conclusion reached by scientists from the universities of New York and Georgia. The results of their observations were published in the journal Psychological Reports.
American researchers have concluded that the combination of brightly decorated interiors and constant noise provokes people to eat more, which leads to overeating.
Experts conducted an experiment: the same people visited fast food establishments and restaurants with a calm atmosphere.
As it turned out, in restaurants where quiet music was played and the interior was decorated in calm, monochromatic colors, people ate 174 fewer calories than in fast food establishments.
It was found that if people are stimulated in the right way, they will eat more and faster, without noticing that they are consuming extra portions. And in restaurants, where people are not distracted by extraneous noise and the eyes are not drawn to colorful colors, nothing prevents them from concentrating on their meal. There, people eat less, take their time, and feel when they are full.
Perhaps the high profits of fast food owners are a consequence of knowing such a strategy, because most of these establishments are decorated very colorfully, and from all sides a person hears noise and loud music, which is why it is difficult for him to hear the voice of his overfed stomach.
Often, red and yellow colors are used to decorate "fast" restaurants, which are known to increase appetite. In addition, such premises are always very brightly lit, and cheerful music thunders from the speakers. And the design of expensive restaurants has a completely different character. You will not hear thunderous music there, usually slow jazz or classical music is played in such establishments. It is even more unlikely to see brightly painted walls and funny pictures hanging on the walls in such a restaurant. It is this atmosphere that will allow a person to enjoy the food and not overeat.
The experts' conclusions are worth listening to for owners of fast-food empires who claim to be ardent fighters against obesity. The least they could do is renovate their establishments.
Of course, everyone chooses what they like, and you can’t stop people from visiting fast food if they like it, but tasty, filling food can be healthy. It’s easier to just not build up a “lifeline” of fat around the belly than to try to get rid of it later.