Saturday, August 8, 2009

Day 70: Are Unhealthy Eaters Ugly?

Hey All,

Lately, as I work my way through the PCP, I find myself doing health related web-searches from time to time. Here's a post I stumbled upon as I did so.

Are Unhealthy Eaters Ugly?

You walk into a room. You see two people eating. One is consuming a large greasy pie, the other a small salad. What are your first impressions of these people?


New research concludes that unhealthy eaters are viewed as "less physically attractive, less warm, less intelligent and less studious" than healthy eaters.

On the flip-side, fast food eaters are perceived as easygoing and more sociable.

In one study, test subjects were presented with a single sentence describing a person who ate oatmeal for breakfast and another person who had a slice of pie instead.

Researchers determined that "oatmeal eaters were perceived as being more physically attractive, more intelligent, more responsible and more moral, but also less humorous and more boring than pie eaters."

Other Perceptions
More feminine: those who eat “healthy” foods and smaller meals.

More masculine: those who eat “unhealthy” foods and larger meals.

People who are thrust into a conversation with a "desirable" member of the opposite sex are less likely to snack on candy or peanuts than people who are speaking with an "undesirable" member of the opposite sex.

Just something I found. Thoughts? Comments? Emotions?

More tomorrow,

Sean


5 comments:

  1. My interest in a guy lessened after I saw he was a picky eater and, more importantly, didn't like chocolate. True story. Of course, that was almost 10 years ago, so not sure what that says about me either ;)

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  2. What's funny is that all of those foods mentioned, salad, oatmeal, etc.. are just perceived as healthy As you know now, a big bowl of oatmeal or a measly salad is nowhere close to the kind of meal that will truly make you healthy.

    This research sounds kinda iffy, very pop-sciencey. I wonder what their sample pool was.

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  3. The PCP has certainly made me more aware of what the people around me are eating. It's become a turn off is someone clearly does not care at all what they are putting in their mouth, even more so if they clearly have no desire to learn how to improve their diet.

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  4. Perhaps it has something to do with most people feeling like they don't have the discipline to eat healthy. They see someone doing what they can't and it increases the attractiveness of the person.

    Although, we all know that everyone can eat healthy. It's merely a choice. It's not like slam dunking a basketball or something.

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  5. I had a girl in one of my classes remark on the oatmeal I was eating during break... perhaps they're some truth to this?

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