Don't eye your thin friend's plate!

Seeing a thin person devouring a big meal gives friends an implicit permission to do the same.

What we choose to eat is not always determined by physiological or nutritional needs. Some other factors, like our friends, do influence our food choice.

To see how friends of different body types influence eating habits, researchers from Canada recruited 210 female college students for what the participants believed was a study on movie viewing; each woman watched a movie with a companion, who was actually a member of the research team. In some cases, the researcher showed up as her normal 105-pound self, while in others she donned padding that made her appear to be obese. During the movie, the pairs were offered snacks, with the undercover researcher taking her portion first.

In general, it was found that the students ate more when their thin companion took a large portion, versus cases where the "obese" companion took a similarly large portion. For example, when the skinny researcher ate a lot (30 candies), the participants ate an average of 10 candies. When the researcher was "obese" and ate a lot, the participants ate about 6 candies.

The above findings prove that we do get influenced by those who are eating with us. The researchers suggested that instead of looking at a thin friend who is gorging on dessert and feeling permission to do the same, we should remind ourselves that individuals are different - with different metabolisms and exercise habits.