1. Mindless Eating
By Chloe Woodward

2. Topic And Methods
I decided to research whether or not the amount a person ate was effected by the pressure to finish all of the food on their plate.
To assess this, I asked four questions:
Do you ever feel pressured to clear your plate past the point of being full?
How many times a week would you say you continue eating even if you are full?
Do you have difficulty throwing away uneaten food on your plate?
Do you feel wasteful if you throw away uneaten food on your plate?

3. Purpose
I believe this research is relevant because many Americans today suffer from the problem of overeating. I believe that if some causes are identified, it will be easier to help people stop overeating.

4. Participants The participants of my study were as follows:
19 year old female college student
18 year old female college student

5. Hypothesis
Before beginning my study, I hypothesized that many people would overeat on a daily basis, and that a majority would feel pressured to finish a plate with food left on it. I also believed that most of the interviewees would feel wasteful if they threw out uneaten food.

6. Findings
Participant One, a 19 year old female college student, responded that she did not ever feel pressured to clear her plate, and said that she continues eating past a feeling of fullness, “A lot. Probably five out of seven days.” The student then said that she does not have difficulty throwing away uneaten food, but does feel wasteful if that food is uneaten.
Participant Two, an 18 year old female college student, responded that she did not ever feel pressured to clear her plate, and that only “four out of seven” days she will continue eating even when full. This student said that she does have difficulty throwing away uneaten food saying, “I feel guilty for the starving people in Africa.” She also said that she feels wasteful throwing away uneaten food.
Participant Three, an 18 year old female college student, was the first to say that she did feel pressured to clear her plate, but only overeats “three out of seven” days a week. This student stated that she does not have difficulty throwing away uneaten food, nor feels wasteful for throwing away uneaten food.

7. Findings (cont.)
Participant Four, a 19 year old female student, responded that she did feel pressured to clear her plate, but only overeats two out of seven days a week, and then jokingly, “every time I eat”. This student responded that she does have trouble throwing away uneaten food, as well as sometimes feels wasteful when she does so.
Participant Five, a 19 year old female student, responded that she does not feel pressured to clear her plate, and only overeats two out of seven days a week. The student does not have difficulty throwing away uneaten food, but sometimes feels wasteful when she does.

8. Numerical Findings 2/5 feel pressured to clear their plate
The average amount of the week to overeat is 3.4 days out of 7 days.
2/5 have difficulty throwing away uneaten food.
4/5 either always or sometimes feel wasteful when throwing away uneaten food.

9. Results and Implications
My hypothesis was not supported entirely, because I believed that a larger percentage would have difficulty throwing away uneaten food. However, it was supported in my hypothesis in the amount who would feel wasteful.
The implications is that a large portion of the population feel wasteful when throwing out uneaten food, however half of that have actual difficulty throwing away the food.
Because of the type of study, I cannot draw a conclusion as to whether or not people may overeat to just finish off their plate, but there does seem to be a correlation. The two students (one and two) who reported the highest amount of days of overeating per week, also stated that they always feel wasteful when throwing away uneaten food. Therefore, it could be said that Americans who always feel wasteful disposing of uneaten food, will be more likely to overeat on average.