Effects of a gardening task on chocolate craving

Abstract

Two concepts, craving and nature, were brought together to investigate the effects of a gardening task on chocolate craving. Participants (n = 105) completed a chocolate craving induction before taking part in one of three, five minute tasks (gardening, plasticine, counting). Measures of craving, mood, arousal, attention and heart rate were recorded. The gardening task was found to have beneficial effects with participants experiencing significant changes in energetic arousal (p= .01) and feeling good (p< .01); however, no significant effects were found in the other measures.