14 DAY TRIAL // Experts have demonstrated in a new study that people who see overweight or fat peers tend to be more likely to select and eat indulgent foods. The question as to whether seeing people who are obese makes other hungry themselves has been a reason for debate in the scientific community for some time.
The new investigation finally settles the issue, indicating that normal-weight people indeed tend to become more primed to the idea of consuming foods they otherwise would not – however, this only happens when the see an obese or overweight person.
Experts say that this correlation was found to be untrue in the case of people who were very conscious about their health goals. In those individuals, only a small desire to eat indulgent food manifested itself, but they did not actually consume food they wouldn't normally eat.
The research was carried out by experts at the University of Colorado in Boulder (UCB) and the Leeds School of Business. Details of the work were published in the latest issue of the respected Journal of Consumer Research.
“Why do people often think back on a pleasant evening with friends and realize that they ate more and worse food than they wish they had?” explains Margaret C. Campbell, a LSB expert who is also a coauthor of the new study.
She conducted the work with UCB colleague Gina S. Mohr. The experts say that this form of negative stereotype is triggered when friends an individual hangs out with carry only a few extra pounds.
“Thinking about personal health goals and reminding oneself of the undesirable effects of eating indulgent food at the time of possible consumption can help people avoid eating too much,” the scientists write in their latest journal entry.
Interestingly, it was also discovered that seeing obese or overweight persons made those committed to eating less doubt their own pledge. It essentially led “to a temporary decrease in a person's own felt commitment to his or her health goal,” the authors explain.
These discoveries are very important, considering that past studies have demonstrated that obesity is contagious, and that it spreads through social networks like wildfire. With the new knowledge, public health experts can develop new approaches to prevent people from overindulging.