Obesity Abstracts

Introduction: Obesity is the second greatest contributor to the burden of disease in Australia. Overconsumption of food is a potent contributor to weight gain and obesity. A series of hedonic and homeostatic processes lead to increased drive to eat. Colour has long been associated with mood, and mood has also been shown to be associated with appetite. However, empirical evidence exploring whether directly manipulating light colour affects appetite is limited. This pilot study aimed to explore whether ambient light colour could moderate appetite.

Method: Fourteen male university students (aged 18–30 years) participated in three conditions on separate days. The conditions were exposure to ambient blue light (B), pink light (P) and red light (R). Participants completed subjective appetite ratings (VAS) and Liking and Wanting (Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire) measures immediately before and after exposure (3 min.) to the different light conditions.

Discussion: Preliminary analyses indicates that the colours exerted varying effects on subjective appetite. There was a trend for pink light to increase hunger by 5%, whereas blue and red light suppressed hunger by 5%. Although the changes were relatively small, there was a trend for blue and red light to exert a different effect on Liking and Wanting compared with pink light. This pilot study provides preliminary evidence that light manipulations could moderate appetite and food preferences.