Success in Dieting May Depend on with Whom You Lunch
Tue, August 18, 2009 at 02:00AM A study reported from McMaster University, appearing in the journal Appetite, investigated the influence of gender and group size on individual food selections made by 198 groups of diners in university cafeterias. There were 469 individuals (men and women). This was a naturalistic study, i.e. there was as little interference with normal behavior as possible. Subsequently, lunch or dinner choices were converted to total calories.
When a couple was dining, women who were eating with a male companion chose foods of significantly lower calorific value than when they were with a female companion. Overall, group size had no effect on the number of calories chosen. However, when women ate in a mixed-gender group, their food choices were at the lower end of the calorie scale. The more men in the group, the fewer the calories the women selected. Men’s calorie choices were not affected by total numbers of men or women.
Similar findings to these have been reported before, but this is the first study to make the observations in a naturalistic way. One of the investigators here believes that women’s food choices are influenced by how others perceive them. Smaller, healthier women are seen as more feminine, and women may believe that dainty eating will be considered to be more attractive to men. Of course this behavior is, most probably, an unconscious choice, but if it helps, women dieters may be able to make use of it. Find an attractive male companion for lunch (and maybe dinner), and shed the pounds!
Reader Comments (1)
I enjoy your site. We use what we can to inform the Seniors at our Center who come in for lunch. A lot of it is too complex for them - too many numbers and things that they just won't read. I do appreciate the site though as I need something daily to do with current health news.