How a bad football team makes you FAT

　　When the chips are down for a sports team, chips are on the menu for their fans, according to a study.

　　Researchers found supporters tended to gorge on junk food on the day following a defeat, while those revelling in victory were more likely to eat healthy foods.

　　The inhabitants of a beaten team’s home city ate on average 16 per cent more saturated fat than usual and 10 per cent more calories. Those who lived in the winning city consumed 9 per cent less saturated fat and 5 per cent fewer calories.

　　For die-hard supporters the effects were much greater. Their fat consumption rocketed by almost a third following a defeat and fell by 16 per cent if their team won.

　　Lead researcher Dr Yann Cornil, of French business school INSEAD, said: ‘The idea could be that there is comfort in food. We reach for sweet and fatty food in particular, like cake or chips, as it helps ease our mood.’

　　The study, in the journal PsychologicalScience, examined outcomes of 475American football games involving 30 teams and concluded that 'sports outcomes affect food preferences more than quantities of food consumed’.

　　By comparing the outcomes from two seasons' worth of NFL games with people's food consumption in more than two dozen cities, Dr Cornil and INSEAD professor Pierre Chandon were able to determine the amounts and types of food consumed after victories and losses.

　　Dr Cornil said: 'The data also allowed us to look at people living in cities without an NFL team or with a team that didn't play on that particular day, providing us with two control samples.'

　　Overall, they found that people in cities with a losing football team ate about 16 per cent more saturated fat compared to their usual Monday consumption.

　　However, people in cities with a winning football team ate about nine per cent less saturated fat compared to their usual diet.

　　These trends held even when people who weren't football fans were included in the sample, and the trends were particularly noticeable when a game went down to the wire.

　　Professor Chandon said: 'People eat better when their football team wins and worse when it loses, especially if they lost unexpectedly, by a narrow margin, or against a team of equal strength.'

　　The researchers hypothesised that, when a favourite team loses, people feel an identity threat and are more likely to use eating as a coping mechanism. Winning, on the other hand, seems to provide a boost to people's self control.

　　To test these associations experimentally, the researchers asked a group of French participants to write about a time when their favourite team lost or won.

　　In a later, seemingly unrelated task, the people who wrote about their team losing opted to eat crisps and chocolate over healthier grapes and tomatoes.

　　However, the group who wrote about winning preferred the healthier options.

　　So, what does this mean for all those fervent fans who support teams that lose more often than they win?

　　Professor Chandon said: 'Even if you are rooting for a perennial loser, there is a solution if you are concerned about healthy eating: after a defeat, write down what is really important to you in life.

　　'In our studies, this simple technique - called 'self affirmation' - completely eliminated the effects of defeats.'

　　The researchers are continuing to investigate factors that influence people's eating behaviour even if they're not aware of them, particularly those factors that are under the control of food marketers, such as package design and food claims.

　　The findings were published in the journal Psychological Science.

　　对于球迷来说，看着自己心爱的球队丢球，甚至输掉比赛，着实是件令人痛苦的事。然而更要命的是，这种“痛苦”还会让他们的身材走样，变得越来越胖。

　　据英国《每日邮报》8月22报道，法国一家商业学校近日对475场美国足球比赛的球迷进行了调查。结果显示，输球方的球迷为了舒缓情绪，会摄入更多的脂肪和卡路里。

　　通过调查30支美国城市足球队的球迷，研究团队发现，输球一方的球迷会比往常多摄入16%的饱和脂肪以及10%的卡路里。而对于那些死忠粉丝来说，摄入量会更大。

　　相反，如果看到自己喜爱的球队打赢比赛，球迷摄入的饱和脂肪会比往常减少9%，卡路里也会减少5%。

　　首席研究员雅恩?科尼尔表示，这是由于食物具有舒缓情绪的作用。人们在心情郁闷时，更喜欢吃甜食或油腻的食物，比如可乐和薯条。而赢球方的球迷心情愉悦，自我控制力较强，因此更青睐相对健康的食物。