Putting restrained and unrestrained nondieters on short-term diets: effects on eating.

This study examined the joint effect of restrained eating status and short-term food restriction on ice cream consumption in the laboratory. Restrained and unrestrained eaters who were not dieting were asked to restrict their food intake for 2 days or to continue eating normally. They then engaged in an ostensible taste test of ice cream. A restraint x restriction interaction was found for ice cream consumption. Among unrestrained eaters, restricted subjects ate more than unrestricted ones; among restrained eaters, the opposite eating pattern was found. These results were attributed to the differential sensitivity of restrained and unrestrained eaters to the internal and external eating cues manipulated in the study.