Women ‘eat salads to appear sexier to men’

The next time soldiers take a girl out on a date, the chances are that she will order a salad and not eat very much of it, according to new research.

Psychologist Meredith Young and her team at McMaster University in Ontario observed the eating habits of women at the establishment and found some interesting behaviour.

They discovered that ladies who sat and ate with men munched salads and other foods low in calories, while they enjoyed more hearty meals when sitting with their female friends.

Ms Young said the reason behind this is that women want to send a message to blokes that they are careful about what they put in their bodies and are more attractive as a result.

"The salad leaves are meant to say ‘I’m pretty; I’m attractive; I take care of myself’," she added.

Scientists from Utrecht University in the Netherlands recently discovered that images of sweet treats such as cake actually spur ladies on to stick to their diet.

Psychologist Floor Kroese studied 54 females and asked half to look at pictures of cake and the rest to look at flowers.

They were then asked about their eating habits and those shown the chocolate cake gave higher priority to healthy options than those who had seen the flowers.

Posted by Samantha Thompson