Meal schemas during a preload decrease subsequent eating

Two studies examined the effects of the induction of a meal schema on participants' behavior. In the first, participants ate identical preloads either in a traditional meal context or in a non-meal ("tasting session") context where the usual cues associated with meals, such as the use of dishes/utensils and being seated at a table, were present or absent, respectively. In a questionnaire assessing their impressions of the situation, participants in the meal condition gave evidence of the activation of a meal schema while the latter did not. That is, the former, in comparison with the latter, were more likely to spontaneously describe the situation using meal-related words, less likely to describe the situation using taste-related words, and rated the situation as feeling more like a meal. In the second study, participants eating the preload in an identical meal context, in comparison with those eating it in a non-meal context, ate less at a subsequent test meal. It was concluded that social cues in the form of Abstract knowledge about eating in one's culture may sometimes have a greater influence on food intake than physiological cues related to nutritional status. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.