Distant foods and proximal alternatives. The effect of food accessibility on consumption

Making unhealthy foods less accessible is a useful strategy for reducing intake. Contrary to no food availability, accessibility of food creates a self-regulation dilemma requiring individuals to choose between either or not eating and regulate amount of intake. We will present a study that further explores the accessibility-strategy. We examined whether decreasing accessibility of snacks, by increased distance, can reduce intake when proximal alternatives are presented simultaneously. Design. Participants ( n  = 40) were randomly assigned to one of two distance conditions, in which distance to a target plate of snacks, was varied (proximal condition = 20 cm vs. distal condition = 60 cm), while distance to a proximal alternative, the control plate, was kept constant (20 cm). Intake for snacks from both plates was assessed. Results. Total intake (grams) was lower in the distal ( M  = 11.32, SD = 9.13) compared to the proximal condition ( M  = 20.41, SD = 13.93), F (1, 37) = 5.88, p  = 0.02. However, the lower intake in the distal condition was not solely attributable to either the target or the control plate, F (1, 37) = 0.25, p  = 0.62; instead participants in the distal condition ate less of both plates compared to the proximal condition. Conclusions. The results show that distant foods decrease intake even when a more proximal alternative is present. Interestingly, increasing distance to one snack does not just decrease the intake of that distal snack, but also decreases intake of the proximal alternative. Possible explanations and avenues for implementation are discussed.