draft 1 - I scream you scream we all scream for good science

This topic submitted by Craig West, Andy Bennet, Rachel Stern, Willi Lempert ( chemicalwill@hotmail.com ) on 10/9/03 .

Natural Systems 1 Syllabus---Western Program---Miami University

Craig West
Andy Bennet
Rachel Stern
Willi Lempert

N.S. Lab Proposal

I scream you scream we all scream for good science

Question:

Will girls eat significantly more frozen yogurt as it gets cooler and the days get shorter?

Hypothesis:

Our lab group will study ice cream eating habits in girls at the Alexander Dining Hall at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. We are interested in discovering if there is a correlation with the amount of ice cream, more specifically the frozen yogurt available in the dining hall, consumed by girls within the time period of 5:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. on weekdays in correlation to temperature and length of day. As the days get shorter and our bodies attempt to put on Òwinter weightÓ we hypothesize that the girls will eat more ice cream, either as a defense mechanism against the cold or as a stress reliever due to depression that occurs during the winter months. We also think that the stresses of workload in the college student subjects will affect the food choices they make, as classes and homework tend to intensify toward the end of the semester. This added stress might cause them to seek out comfort foods or foods that provide them with energy. Our hypothesis is that as the days shorten girls will eat more ice cream and also as the temperature drops, ice cream consumption will increase.
The reason for this hypothesis stems from a variety of reasons. First, during the winter months, it is common that humans crave more fattening food and carbohydrates in order to put on weight as a sort of defense mechanism against the cold. Another reason could be the factors associated with seasonal depression in which people afflicted with this seek out the fat rich carbohydrates during the colder, winter days. To study these factors we have chosen to study any correlation between ice cream consumption and the length of day, which will shorten as the temperature drops, looking for an increase in the number of women choosing to eat the frozen yogurt as these days shorten.
The alternative hypothesis is that frozen yogurt consumption will go down during the winter months, as people would rather have the cold treat when weather is warm in order to cool themselves off. There are studies out there that show an opposing stance and present data suggesting the popularity of ice cream in summer months over winter months. But, here at Miami, using variable that are strictly limited to college age females, we hypothesize other results.

Introduction:

Have you ever wondered why it is you crave sugar-rich, carbohydrate Ðloaded foods once the winter weather starts? Well, so do we. When our bodies crave these foods at this time, is it a reaction to the cold in an attempt to pack on Òwinter weightÓ or is the reason rooted in a type of stress mechanism or depression symptom? The possibility of a correlation between season and eating habits is of concern to many, as it affects diet and health as well as uncovering possible psychological implications. Numerous studies have shown that seasonal affect disorder (commonly known as SAD), which causes people to feel down and lethargic during the winter months, will present itself with symptoms such as craving fatty, high calorie, and carbohydrate-rich foods. This alone reveals that our bodies react, in some cases, directly to temperature and length of day. This is where we come in.
We have chosen ice cream as our target food in our study at Miami University. Who doesnÕt like ice cream? It is a common after lunch or after dinner dessert, and the perfect variable to study easily. Here in Alexander Dining Hall, the frozen yogurt machine provides daily satisfaction to the sweet teeth of all the students that sit down to eat their meals. When winter rolls around, we hypothesize that people (we have narrowed our study to women in order to simplify the research process) will seek out comfort foods, and probably in the form of ice cream. There are numerous studies that suggest this type of comfort food dining in the colder temperatures (Eller, 1993; ÒFinding Comfort in Colder TemperaturesÓ, 2001; Coleman, 1998; ÒSpring, Summer Best Time to Change Eating Habits, 1994; ÒAdapt Food Preparation to Warmer Weather, 2001).
Also, there is a possibility of increased ice cream consumption as a function of stress relief (possibly caused by the increased work load of the college students studied) and a way to, again, find comfort in the form of high calorie, sugar filled foods (Ramsayer, 2003). Many of us notice that as our homework begins to build up and projects are due in our classes, we tend to snack on foods as we study and sit down to bigger meals at the dining halls. This is where our curiosity about ice cream comes in to play. Do female students crave and seek out ice cream when they are stressed?
A final consideration regarding the causes of possible increases in ice cream consumption is that of seasonal affect disorder (SAD). As previously stated, a symptom of SAD is an increased appetite for carbohydrates and high calorie food (ÒDepression Alternative Treatment and Food to AvoidÓ, 2002; ÒSeasonal Affective DisorderÓ, via the web; ÒSymptoms of SADÓ, 2002; Murray, 2002; Tarrier, 2002; Goel, 2003). As ÒGood Food IdeasÓ stresses, multiple forms of depression cause people to change their diets toward sugary, fatty foods, which only perpetuate their depressed state (2001). Ice cream falls directly into this category, which makes it a great variable for study. We will sit in the dining hall from 5:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday and note how many girls get frozen yogurt out of the machine. These totals will be compared to the length of day and temperature for each day of research.
We did come across a few articles suggesting that poor weather will deter ice cream consumption (ÒGerman Ice Cream HitÓ, 1999; ÒSwiss Ice Cream Consumption DownÓ, 2000). On the same note, there was one article that came out and directly stated that Òeating ice cream in winter has become the rage of many a youngster . . . ice cream sells better in winter in those highly packed commercial sections like . . . pedestrian malls and large department storesÓ (Yu, 2001). Could college campuses create the same atmosphere that is conducive to eating ice cream in the winter? That is what we are out to discover.

Methods:

There is a soft-serve frozen yogurt machine (hereinafter referred to as the Òice cream machineÓ) in the Alexander Dining Hall. We will observe the use of the machine every night Mon-Thurs between the times of 5:45 and 6:15 PM. We have determined that this is the time during dinner in which the most girls will be getting ice cream. There are four members of our group, and each member will be responsible for observing one night a week. The observer will inconspicuously sit at a table near the ice cream machine and record how many females get ice cream from it during the half hour of observation. It is important that the observer be discrete, because if they are noticeable, it may affect the outcome of the data. A girl who sees someone lurking near the ice cream machine might be intimidated and not get ice cream when she otherwise would have. The observer will then record the high temperature for the day as well as the length of the day as reported on Òweather.comÓ. We will then perform t-tests and make histograms to see if there is a significant correlation between either the temperature or day length and the amount of girls who eat ice cream.

Results:

We will record the data in a table. There will be three columns, one for the amount of girls who got ice cream that day, one for the day length, and one for the day temperature as according to weather.com. There will be one row for each day. The table will look like this:
# girls/day length/temperature
Nov 5
Nov 6
Nov 7

Once we are finished collecting data, we will make two separate graphs. One will plot the relationship between the number of girls and the day length, and the other will plot the relationship between the number of girls and the temperature. We will look at those two graphs and see if there is any correlation. If there is more of a correlation on one of the charts, we will make a conjecture as to why that correlation occurred.

Conclusions:

We believe that the findings will show that a significant proportion of the girls who eat frozen yogurt will eat more as the days get shorter and colder. We hypothesize that this will be because of general depression in winter as supported by our references. It will also be because as classes become more difficult, people will be more stressed. They will in turn eat more to relieve stress as the semester nears its end. There are also other aspects of these variables which we chose not to focus on in this experiment. One of them is the difference between boys and girls in terms of eating habits and change. We chose this to keep as few variables as possible in the experiment. We also could have studied how much people get per serving and how that changes. We chose to only study the amount of servings, as this lends itself to simplicity and promotes non-opinionated data. The data we collect should clearly show if there is significant correlation. If it turns out that girls eat more in the winter, this may be because it is a food that cools and people are trying to become warmer. This is an alternate hypothesis in which we chose not to support. It is also possible that there will be no significant change meaning either people donÕt change habits, or the effects of eating fatty foods and extra stress could balance out with the desire to warm ones body.

References:

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