The Effects of Gender on Women’s Portion Control

A research study appearing in the online international journal Appetite appears to establish a link between the gender of a woman’s dining companions and her food intake. The study from Canada’s McMaster University shows that women who dine in the company of men will consume fewer calories than those who eat with other women. Researcher Meredith Young’s study involved university students from three different university cafeterias, all of whom had their choice of multiple dining partners and numerous food options. Time and time again, she found that women who chose men as their partners selected lower calorie options while women who were almost completely in the company of women chose higher fat foods. Women who dined with an assortment of women and men also elected lower calorie food. In these mixed gender groups, she found that the more men involved then the more lower calorie foods were selected by the women.

Young theorizes that due to media portrayal and societal pressure, women tend to feel that the lower calorie food portions might make them appear more feminine and thus, more attractive to men. She isn’t sure whether this selection is conscious or unconscious, The fact that this takes place in a University cafeteria setting is significant since many students may not know who their exact dining partners will be before being seated, yet the food choices made do suggest that women likely anticipate who they will be eating with before choosing their food.

Young’s study saw no correlation between the gender of men’s dining partners and their food choices since men didn’t appear to be affected by the gender or the number of their companions.