People Eat Heavy When Dining with Heavy People
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BananaStock/Thinkstock(ITHACA, N.Y.) — Be careful when dining with overweight people. You may pick up bad habits.
A new study points out that when an overweight person eats unhealthy food, the company they keep may also follow suit.
In an experiment conducted by Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab and the Mayo Medical Clinic, more than 80 college students were divided into four groups whereby some sat with an actress dressed in a fat suit that ordered more spaghetti than salad while another actress who feigned a weight problem did the opposite.
Meanwhile, the third and four groups sat with actresses dressed normally ordering more spaghetti than salad or more salad than spaghetti, respectively.
Interestingly, students sitting with the women pretending to be overweight piled more pasta than salad on their plates no matter whether the actress served herself more spaghetti or more salad.
Co-study author Brian Wansink contends that people tend to often make bad food choices, depending on who’s sitting at their table. He recommends then that it’s important to adhere to dietary goals when ordering from a menu or if going to a buffet, decide beforehand to eat healthy and stick with the program.
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