[Christmas article: Consumption of chocolate vs candy in a Danish emergency department]
Johanna Frary, Mads Christian Tofte Gregers, Sanaz Amin
1mananpareek@dadlnet.dk.
Introduction:
The main objective of this single-centre, prospective, observational study was to compare the survival rate of chocolate with that of candy among healthcare professionals working in an emergency department. Secondary objectives included comparisons of cumulative weight, calorie count, and cost of consumed chocolate vs candy.
Methods:
On five separate occasions, an observer with recurring duty in the emergency department placed 56 pieces of milk chocolate (30% cocoa) and 56 pieces of candy (wine gum and liquorice) next to each other in standard, disposable bowls, in one of two prespecified locations. These bowls were continuously monitored for two hours. The primary outcome, i.e., the survival of chocolate vs candy, was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression. Secondary outcomes were compared using unpaired t-test.
Results:
Of the 560 pieces of sweets distributed 257 were consumed, 108 pieces of chocolate and 149 pieces of candy. The survival of chocolate was significantly longer than that of candy, hazard ratio for chocolate vs candy was 0.66 (95% confidence interval: 0.52-0.85), p = 0.001. Chocolate was responsible for significantly more weight eaten (771 g vs 497 g), calories consumed (4,243 kcal vs 1,723 kcal), and cost (81 SEK vs 38 SEK), p < 0.001 for all.
Conclusion:
Pieces of chocolate survived significantly longer than pieces of candy.
Funding:
none.
Trial Registration:
not relevant.
