Your dining partner can influence what you choose to eat as well as how much you eat, new research suggests.
The study found that people tend to eat an amount of food that is similar to the portion consumed by the person they are dining with, said a report in the Los Angeles Times.
Dining with someone who is thin but who eats a lot of food, in particular, may cause you to overeat.
The study involved 210 college students who were paired with a fellow student who was actually a researcher involved in the study. The researchers were either naturally small (average weight of 48kg) or wore padding to appear obese (about 80kg). The student and the fake student/researcher were offered snacks to enjoy during the movie.
The researcher was offered food first and took either a small or large amount of food. The student was then offered food.
The study found that the student usually took an amount of food similar to what his partner took, regardless of the researcher's size.
However, the size of the dining partner mattered, somewhat. When the researcher was obese, the students tended to adjust their food intake somewhat. However, when the researcher was thin, the student tended to mimic the researcher's eating pattern.
'We show that it is not simply eating with heavy people that makes you eat more (or less); it depends on what these other consumers choose,' the researchers wrote.
'In many cases, the most dangerous people to eat with are not those who are overweight, but those who are thin but are heavy eaters.'
The study was conducted by researchers at Duke University, the University of British Columbia and Arizona State University.
It will soon be published online in the Journal Of Consumer Research.
