Slashdot Mirror
Diners Tend To Eat More If Their Companions Are Overweight
BarbaraHudson writes: A University of Illinois study (abstract) that shows that people tend to eat more in the presence of an overweight person. From the article: "The test involved a sample of 82 college coeds who were observed helping themselves to a simple pasta and salad meal. Each of the coeds were themselves of normal weight. The students first required to watch what they believed was a fat woman serving herself some of the food. The fat woman was actually an actress wearing a fat suit.
After observing the "corpulent" woman serve herself, the students were allowed to come forward and serve themselves pasta and salad. On average, the coeds each served themselves more pasta than the "fat" woman had selected while taking less salad than she did. When the same study was performed with the actress appearing sans the fat suit, researchers observed that students ended up eating more salad than pasta. The conclusion was simple: people may consume more unhealthy food and eat less healthy food when in the presence of an overweight person." As anyone on a diet will tell you, a waist is a terrible thing to mind. Weight control is a lot more complex than the article makes it seem, though some will welcome the opportunity to blame someone else.
After observing the "corpulent" woman serve herself, the students were allowed to come forward and serve themselves pasta and salad. On average, the coeds each served themselves more pasta than the "fat" woman had selected while taking less salad than she did. When the same study was performed with the actress appearing sans the fat suit, researchers observed that students ended up eating more salad than pasta. The conclusion was simple: people may consume more unhealthy food and eat less healthy food when in the presence of an overweight person." As anyone on a diet will tell you, a waist is a terrible thing to mind. Weight control is a lot more complex than the article makes it seem, though some will welcome the opportunity to blame someone else.
The "low-fat" craze that caused everyone to start eating a lot more sugar and spiking their insulin constantly.
Aspartame is one of the few substances that has been analysed to death, and we know it is quickly metabolised into 3 parts that are also found in many other sources of food that we wouldn't think twice of consuming. We don't know nearly as much about herbal teas, for instance.
Your first study doesn't provide a causal link. It may very well be that people who are already fat are switching to diet drinks in an effort to cut back on calories, or because they've developed type 2 diabetes. The 2nd study shows a weak causal link, but it's got a couple of problems: first of all, it's done on rats, not humans, and also it's done with sweetened yoghurt rather than diet drinks.
As opposed to where the OP wants the blame placed.
This isn't "blaming" anyone. At no point was any "blame" made. At no point in the study did they ask the guys "Why did you eat so much pasta?" and at no point did anyone say "The fat lady made me do it."
This is nothing more than observed behaviour. Most of this type of behaviour is subconscious, so in many ways you probably have had a fat person grab your hand and shovel food down your throat.
This may also explain why the only person looking to lay blame on anyone appears to be you.
It's got nothing to do with willpower. The point of the study is that people who otherwise eat normally and maintain a healthy weight unconsciously eat more when observing fat people eat first. Willpower is not an issue, they are not even aware of what is happening.
This is important. Adverts could use fat people to sell more of their product. Societies that have a lot of obese people make it harder for everyone to stay at a healthy weight, regardless of willpower.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC