Eating with someone overweight may make you eat more. It seems our attitude toward food isn’t the only thing that determines how much we eat. New research out this week found that eating with someone who is either overweight or appears to be overweight can influence what a person chooses to eat and how much of it. Participants ate with an actress either wearing a fat suit or not and were given the option of salad or pasta. “Even when the overweight person ate salad, her meal companions loaded up. When participants ate with overweight eating companions, regardless of what she served herself, participants ate more pasta. They ate less salad even if the overweight person ate more salad.” The researchers surmise that just eating with someone overweight may decrease motivation to eat healthy regardless of what the other person is eating. The goal is obviously not to avoid overweight companions when going out to dinner, but “to be more mindful of how much we’re consuming” and what influences our choices. 

LEarn More