Skip to main content

How fans change their eating habits after their team wins or loses



The American Super Bowl on the weekend will most likely have an impact on fans the next day, of both the winning side and the losing side – in terms of their eating habits (The Washington Post, February 5, 2016).

Research published in the Psychological Science journal focused on the effect team wins and losses have on people’s food choices. The researchers, Yann Cornil and Pierre Chandon of the Institut Prive D’enseignement Superieur (INSEAD), France, analyzed the daily food consumption of 700 American households during two seasons of the National Football League.

The average age of the respondents was 38, with 52% female, living in major cities. They were requested to keep a food diary for 14 days, and again a year later, for 14 days. They also had a control group of people in cities without football teams or whose team did not play during the survey period.

The results showed that people ate 10% more calories and 16% more saturated fat than normal on the day after their team lost. In eight cities with the most devoted NFL fans, their saturated fat consumption increased by 28% after a loss (compared with 9% for the less devoted fans). The ‘we almost won but lost’ scenario resulted in eating more junk food, even more than a big loss. [Other studies have shown that cardiac incidents increase after losses, and fans also lose their ability to control anger, disappointment, and sadness.]

The study also showed that fans ate better than usual on the day after their team won. After a win people ate 5% fewer calories and 9% less saturated fat than usual. In devoted fans, saturated fat decreased by 16% after victories (and 4% by less devoted fans).

The researchers also looked at 157 French soccer fans and what they felt like eating after watching videos of the national team’s victory over Italy in the 2000 European championship final and its loss against Italy in the 2006 World Cup final. A similar result occurred. The French participants chose less-healthy food after watching the winning game and less-healthy food after watching the loss.

The researchers concluded that eating decisions are not always under people’s own control. Emotions, norms, and what is happening in their environment contributes to people’s eating decisions – and the more intense the emotion, the more they change their eating habits.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-your-football-team-wins-you-eat-healthier-food/2016/02/05/40c17fd8-cb57-11e5-a7b2-5a2f824b02c9_story.html

http://faculty.insead.edu/pierre-chandon/documents/Cornil%20Chandon%20From%20Fan%20to%20Fat%20Psych%20Science%20Online%20First.pdf


MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more

The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli (2015 translation): book review

The Knight in the Panther Skin (12th century, this edition 2015) is a recent translation by American poet and author, Lyn Coffin. The author, Shota Rustaveli, is Georgia’s most loved poet. This poem is mammoth, a magnum opus – it is 1,656 verses long, separated by chapters. But readers, don’t give up, because every verse is worth reading. It is akin to 1001 Arabian Knights, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, or Shakespearean poetry. King Rostevan of Arabia has a daughter, Tinatin. She loves the knight Avtandil and he loves her. Verse 368 from Avtandil: ‘The doctor’s could do nothing. A dark twilight on my heart now pressed, I was on fire because of love, but nobody knew or guessed. They blamed my blood. The king decided bleeding my arm would be best; I let it be done to hide the suffering I had not confessed.’ But a knight in panther skin is seen weeping, and subsequently kills the king’s soldiers, sparing the king. Before Tinatin weds Avtandil she r...
Post a Comment
Read more