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Do unsuccessful dieters intentionally underreport food intake?
L S Muhlheim1, D B Allison, S Heshka
1Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA.
Objective:
A bogus pipeline paradigm was utilized to assess whether food intake underreporting by unsuccessful dieters is intentional.
Method:
Twenty-eight subjects completed 1-week food diaries. Then, 17 subjects in the experimental condition kept 2-week food diaries while being told the researcher was verifying their report. Eleven subjects in the control group were asked merely to self-monitor for two more weeks.
Results:
Results indicate that subjects in the experimental group reported significantly greater intake than control subjects, when controlling for reported intake during the screening phase and weight change.
Discussion:
Thus, the belief that the researcher could verify their report improved the accuracy of patients' self-report. However, all subjects continued to underreport their dietary intake. In summary, underreporting may be an intentional attempt to manage presentation to others in a society that is increasingly critical of overweight persons.