Chang and Chiou’s work confirms prior findings linking seeing nature to healthier eating. They “performed a behavioral experiment to replicate published findings showing that exposure to natural scenes, i.e., viewing pictures of natural versus urban scenes, is associated with the choice of a “reward drink” containing less sugar (i.e., a healthier dietary choice). . . . Two measures related to weight control were used: the amount of ice cream consumed in a taste test (actual food consumption) and the amount of sugar chosen for the reward drink. Compared to the urban group, the natural scene group chose reward drinks with less sugar and ate less ice cream in the taste test. The association between experimental exposure to natural scenes and weight control behaviors was not contingent on the intention to lose weight or participant sex.”
Yevvon Chang and Wen-Bin Chiou. 2024. “How Exposure to Natural Scenes Can Promote Weight Control Behaviors: A Replication Experiment.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 98, 102413, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102413