The coolest glutton

Men tend to overeat in socially conditioned situations

Anna Stavina, XX2 century

An enthusiastic absorption of food at a festive table or at a friendly party can say more about your ego than about the quality of the dishes – especially if you are a man.

In the Food and Brand Lab (Food and Brand Lab) Cornell University conducted a small study that demonstrated that men are at risk of overeating when they find themselves in situations of social interaction, including when there are no additional incentives for this. "Even if men don't think about it, trying to 'eat more than a buddy' can be seen as a manifestation of masculinity and strength," explains co–author Kevin Kniffin.

For the study, the results of which were published in Frontiers in Nutrition (Wansink and Kniffin, Exhibitionist Eating: Who Wins Eating Competitions?), scientists recruited college students of approximately the same build. Some of the volunteers took part in a competition for eating chicken wings in the presence of active fans, others competed without a "support group". The prize for winning the competition was penny plastic medals, but the participants of the competition ate an average of 4 times more wings than the members of the control group, who were offered wings without having to take part in the competition.

It also turned out that male subjects who ate wings in front of fans ate an average of 30% more and more often described this experience as "fascinating", "funny" and "exciting". On the contrary, the female participants ate less in the presence of fans. They described their experience as "a little awkward."

"Pay more attention to your friends, not to the food," suggested the study's lead author, Professor Brian Wansink, head of the Food and Brands Laboratory. He also noted that the results of the work are applicable in many situations, from friendly parties to festive feasts and "happy hours" in cafes: "If you want to prove your courage, offer a friend to face off in arm wrestling, and do not try to "overeat" him."

The Cornell University Food and Brand Laboratory is an interdisciplinary association of researchers dealing with the psychology of nutrition and consumer behavior. The work carried out in the laboratory touches on the problems of psychology, dietetics, food commodity science, marketing, behavioral economics and agricultural economics.
The research of the laboratory staff led to the birth of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs) and, later, the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement, which conducts research in school canteens and distributes the information received throughout the United States. Currently, 30,000 schools across America are participating in the movement.
The Food and Brand Lab was created by Professor Brian Wansink in 1997 at the University of Illinois and moved to Cornell University in 2005.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  08.12.2016