The effect of background music tempo on eating speed and food intake volume within in healthy women

Background The effects of the different tempos of background music (BGM) on food intake and eating speed have not been fully studied. Aim The study aimed to investigate the influence of changing the tempo of BGM during meals on food intake and to explore strategies to support appropriate eating behavior. Methods Twenty-six healthy young adult women participated in this study. In the experimental phase, each participant ate a meal under three separate conditions: fast (120% speed), moderate (original, 100% speed), and slow (80% speed) BGM. The same music was used for each condition, and appetite before and after eating, the amount of food consumed, and eating speed were recorded. Results The results showed that food intake (g, mean ± standard error (SE)) was slow: 317.9 ± 22.2, moderate: 400.7 ± 16.0, and fast: 342.9 ± 22.0. Eating speed (g/s, mean ± SE) was slow: 28.1 ± 2.8, moderate: 34.2 ± 2.7, and fast: 27.2 ± 2.4. The analysis showed that the moderate condition showed greater speed than the fast and slow conditions (slow–fast: p = .008; moderate–slow: p = .012; moderate–fast: p = .004). Moreover, the food intake in the moderate condition was significantly higher than that in the slow and fast conditions (moderate–slow: p < .001; moderate–fast: p < .001), and there was no significant difference between the slow and fast conditions in this regard ( p = .077). Conclusion These results suggest that original tempo BGM led to higher food intake compared to the faster and slower tempo conditions. These findings suggest that listening to music at an original tempo during meals may support appropriate eating behavior.