Want to lose weight? Then choose who you dine with. A new study carried out in the Netherlands found that women who eat a meal together mimic each other’s eating behaviors. That’s a bad thing if you regularly eat lunch with someone who can down a plate of French fries in ten minutes. It seems that women pick up cues from their dining companion and mirror those cues when eating a meal. So pick your dining partners carefully.
Eating Habits and Weight Control: Women Who Eat Together Eat Similarly
Researchers observed the eating behaviors of 70 pairs of young women of college age through video cameras while they dined and timed how quickly they took bites and how much they ate during the meal.
The researchers discovered that when the women who dined in pairs they typically took bites simultaneously – when one took a bite, the other followed suit. This was more apparent when they first sat down to eat than after they had been eating a while. It seems the women were taking cues from one another as to how fast to eat. The women also mirrored one another in terms of the amount of food they ate. When one dining partner ate more, the other followed suit.
Researchers believe this kind of behavior is a form of behavioral mimicry, the process by which humans and animals unconsciously imitate the behavior of others. Mimicry is one way that people bond, build rapport and establish acceptable behavior. In this case, one diner takes a cue from the other as to when it’s appropriate to start eating, how often to take a bite and how much it’s appropriate to eat. This type of behavior might be more common in situations where two people don’t know one another, and they want to make a favorable impression by not appearing to over or under eat.
Does Who You Eat With Affect Your Weight?
Other research shows that the amount a person eats is influenced by who they’re dining with, especially in a social situation. Studies also show that people eat more when they dine with others than when they dine alone. It’s easy to see how over time choosing the wrong dining companions could make weight control more challenging. This points out the role that social influences play on eating behavior, and it happens without any real awareness on your part.
A person’s dining companions, as well as their surroundings, influences the number of calories they take in. People who eat a meal while watching television, reading a book or working on a computer generally consume more calories. That’s why it’s important to focus on the task of eating when dining alone rather than on distracting activities. Research shows that people who multitask while eating have problems recalling what they ate thirty minutes after finishing a meal, and they feel less satisfied. That’s not a good thing if you’re trying to control your weight.
Weight Control and Eating Habits: The Bottom Line?
Be mindful of who you dine with, and when you eat alone, turn off the computer and television and focus in on eating instead. It may help you control your weight.
References:
Hermans RCJ, Lichtwarck-Aschoff A, Bevelander KE, Herman CP, Larsen JK, et al. (2012) Mimicry of Food Intake: The Dynamic Interplay between Eating Companions. PLoS ONE 7(2): e31027. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031027.
Appetite 36: 111-118.
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