With football starting to kick off, it is only right to write a blog about how the popular sport affects people around the United States. Researchers have discovered at the INSEAD Business School that score turnouts for football games, or any other sporting event can affect a person’s attitude during the week, and his or her’s eating habits. Studies show that when a fan’s favorite team loses that he or she consume more saturated fats when compared to a fan of a winning team. Not only do the fans eat more healthy, but the city of a winning in general does as well. The effect is significantly worse when the outcome of the game is so close, and keeps people on edge.
This hypothesis can be related to the clichė of when a person goes through a bad break up he or she eats a ton of chocolate or ice cream (a.k.a. comfort food). People are known for eating out their problems at times, instead of just coping with it. To be fully honest football does play a huge part in my life, but I have never run into a problem that I get so upset about a team losing that I drown myself in Goldfish and some nice Penn State Berkey Creamery. But maybe it is because I am a Jets fan and am used to losing and upsets.
The physiology behind this study makes perfect sense because when someone is sad they are more bound to eat delicious food that is often unhealthy. Additionally, since a team in football usually plays once every week then a person could have terrible eating habits until the team comes together and wins.
My personal intake on this is that the study makes sense, but there is no way to prove direct causation. The study says that a fan of a winning team eats 9% less fat than they usually consume. What could be the reason for this? Does a winning football team really make people desire to eat healthier? I can see why a person might want to enjoy carbs after watching his or her team lose, but I do not understand how a winning team equals a healthier fan base. The reasoning could be that a fan is so content he or she does not have that urge to eat poorly.
What do you guys think? If you are like me you eat worse while the game is going on instead of after. What could be the cause of eating healthier after a winning game?
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