A woman’s choice of food is influenced by the gender of her dining companions, according to a new study published in Appetite. MResearchers at McMaster University in Canada observed 469 students as they ate in university cafes.

Two women eating together consumed an average of 665 calories each, but for a male and female pair the woman opted for just over 550 calories. When women dined in larger groups without men, their calorie consumption edged higher to almost 800. Men seem to eat the same amount regardless of their dining partners; a little over 715 calories on average.

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Most Denny’s meals are dangerously high in sodium, putting the restaurant chain’s customers at greater risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke, according to a class action lawsuit filed today by a New Jersey man with the support of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

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America’s chain restaurants are making Americans fatter and sicker say consumer watchdog Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) who have just awarded their Xtreme eating awards 2009 to chains like the Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, and Applebee for offering appetisers, entrées, and desserts that give you a whole day’s worth of calories in one dish.

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See also Medical News Today

But if you don’t have a kitchen it is really hard to cook.

When you suggest that people buy rice, pasta, and beans, you presuppose that they have resources for capital investment for future meals: a kitchen, pots, pans, utensils, gas, electricity, a refrigerator, a home with rent paid, the time to cook. Those healthy rice and beans can take hours; another class bias is that poor people’s time is worthless.

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A national sample of 1,277 Australian men and 1,585 women aged 26-36 completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographic and lifestyle factors, a 127 item food frequency questionnaire, usual daily frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption and usual weekly frequency of takeaway food consumption.

After adjusting for confounding variables (age, leisure time physical activity, TV viewing and employment status), consuming takeaway food twice a week or more was associated with a 31% higher prevalence of moderate abdominal obesity in men and a 25% higher prevalence in women.

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1st announcement for the conference Better food at work the Nordic & Baltic experience is now online. The conference will be held in Tallinn, Estonia, 23 – 25 September 2009.

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