There are not any previous studies on this topic. I suspect the reason for that is the topic is very specific. Most studies done on this topic explore doing multiple activities while reading, not one thing. This falls under the general topic of  multitasking. Can the brain can focus on two activities at once? That said, there are several articles that have similar themes to that of this study.

The first study explored is one titled, “Facilitating effects of ‘eating-while reading’ on responsiveness to persuasive communications,” by Janis, Kaye, and Kirschner. The goal of the study was to determine if food increased acceptance when exposed to persuasive communication. Participants answered a questionnaire about their opinions on a topic before the study began. They were then given a persuasive article to read. Half of the participants got snacks and soft drinks as they read. After they read, they answered another questionnaire.

Janis, Kaye, and Kirschner determined that more who ate while reading changed their opinions. They mentioned in the article that subjects may have forgotten their initial opinion. This is because food is gratification, so they associate that with the reading. This means that when taken away, it is possible for the understanding to go back to what it was before. Read more about this study.

“Focusing on food during lunch enhances lunch memory and decreases later

snack intake,” by Higgs and Donohoe also looks at a similar topic. Participants ate lunch, and different groups focused on different things. The participants of the first group listened to audio instructions to focus on characteristics of their meal while they ate. The second group read a newspaper article about food during the meal. The third group ate their meal as they would normally, with no interference. In the afternoon, plates of cookies were provided for the participants.

Higgs and Donohoe kept track of the number of cookies eaten by each group. The group instructed to focus on their meal ate fewer cookies than the other two groups. The group that ate less snacks in the afternoon was able to remember lunch more vividly than the others. This group was the one tasked with focusing on the details of their meal. The group that read a newspaper while eating “…might have been predicted to distract them from their lunch.” Read the abstract here.