单身人士与心仪伴侣用餐时会选择更健康的食物

Single young people order healthier food if they're on a date with somebody good-looking, a study has revealed.

一项研究发现，单身人士与一位有魅力的同伴用餐时会选择更健康的食物。

Researchers at East Carolina University studied 639 heterosexual students with an average age of 18 to find out how a good-looking dining companion would affect what they ate.

美国东卡罗来纳大学的研究人员对639名平均年龄在18岁的异性恋学生进行了研究，以了解与长相有魅力人的一起进餐会如何影响他们的饮食。

Women may eat healthier because thinness is seen as more attractive, while men want to portray themselves as fit and healthy, the researchers suggest.

研究人员称，女性可能会吃得更健康，因为瘦被认为更有吸引力，而男性则希望塑造健康的形象。

In the study, each of the participants were told to pick an item from a restaurant menu after being shown a photo of who they would be eating with, The Times reported.

据《泰晤士报》报道，这项研究要求每位参与者在看过午餐同伴的大头照后选择一道菜。

The scientists had already rated people's attractiveness beforehand, and found the most attractive people inspired their partners to eat healthily.

科学家们事先已经对照片上人们的吸引力分了等级，发现最具魅力的人会促使他们的伴侣做出更健康的选择。

'Perhaps because society portrays thinner women as more desirable,' the authors wrote, 'women may be especially motivated to appear thin or at least to engage in behaviors that promote thinness when in the presence of others.'

研究报告的作者写道：“也许是因为社会认为苗条的女性更有魅力，所以女性特别愿意在别人面前显得更苗条，或者至少会做出一些让自己看起来更苗条的举动。”

They added: 'Smaller meals are generally considered to be more neat and feminine... and women tend to be rated as more attractive when their meals contain lower fat content.'

他们补充说：“较小份的食物通常被认为更优雅、更有女人味。如果女性食物中的脂肪含量较低，则容易被认为更有魅力。”

But their theory about men was wrong -- they thought men would eat more calories in a bid to seem more muscular and strong.

但他们关于男性的理论是错误的--他们认为男性会摄入更多的卡路里，以显得身体更健硕。

This theory appears to have been based on past research claiming men eat bigger portions in the presence of women in an attempt to seem more powerful.

这一理论似乎是基于过去的一项研究，即男性在女性面前吃得更多，是为了显得更有男子汉气概。

However, if that was ever true it doesn't apply to 21st century young men, who are more likely to want to be seen as health-conscious.

然而，如果这是真的，却并不适用于21世纪的年轻男性，他们更有可能希望被视为注重健康。

'Individuals who consume healthier foods tend to be rated as more fit, attractive, and likeable,' the scientists said to explain the men's behaviour.

研究人员在解释男性的行为时说：“吃健康食品的人往往被认为更健康、更有魅力、更讨人喜欢。”