Men eat more in the company of women: study

Men eat significantly more food when sharing a meal with women than with other men, a new study suggests.
"If you're a man, how much you eat may have more to do with the gender of your dining companions than your appetite," researchers said.
The study by researchers at the Cornell University in New York found that men will eat significantly more food in the company of women than they will with other men.
For the study, researchers observed 105 adults lunching at an all-you-can-eat Italian buffet over the course of two weeks. They recorded the number of pizza slices and how many bowls of salad each diner ate.

Gender of each diner's eating partner or partners was also noted.
Before leaving the restaurant, the diners were intercepted by a researcher to ask them to complete a short survey indicating their level of fullness after eating, and their feelings of hurriedness and comfort while eating.

Men who dined with at least one woman ate 93 per cent more pizza and 86 per cent more salad than men who dined with only other men.
The amount that women ate didn't differ when eating with other women or with men, researchers found.
When they ate with men, many women indicated feeling that they overate and were rushed through their meal.

"These findings suggest that men tend to overeat to show off - you can also see this tendency in eating competitions which almost always have mostly male participants," said lead author Kevin Kniffin, of Cornell University.
The study was published in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.