Sex, social interaction and food consumption: “The Eva effect” / Género, interacción social y consumo de alimento: “El efecto Eva”

Several elements provide information for food consumption, among them: flavor, texture and temperature. These elements related to environmental characteristicsand experience integrate the feeding behavior. Experimental evidence suggests that sex and social interaction are important factors for food consumption. Thisstudy evaluated effects of sex and social interaction on food consumption. Additionally, our proposal is to use Behavioral Catalogue of Feeding Interaction (BCFI).Twenty-four human subjects, both sexes, between 20 and 28 years-old, which were not known between them, were exposed to different familiar and novel foods,evaluating the feeding interaction. Subjects were divided in three groups. First group was formed by man, second by woman; and third group by subjects of bothsexes. Data suggest that group 1 and 2 registered similar food consumption in comparison with the group 3 that registered a little consumption. A strong influenceof women was registered on men to stimulate its food consumption, phenomenon that was denominated Eva Effect. We conclude that sex is an important factorin the study of feeding phenomenon.