In our previous chronicles of overdetermination, we've learned that pretty much everything can predict the winner of the Super Bowl and everything has more germs than a toilet bowl. Today we look at what's making you overeat. 

Researchers recently found that simply seeing fat people can lead to overeating. Their study consisted of a small number of participants looking at either "a fat person, a normal-weight person, or a lamp." People who looked at the "fat person" ate more candy afterwards. But if you think just averting your gaze from fat people will make you skinny, you're sadly mistaken. Here's a small sample of other things that researchers have also linked to overeating. If you lump these all together, a quest to lose weight feels comically daunting.

Things Research Linked to Overeating:

• Having overweight friends  leads to overeating.
• Thinking too much  leads to overeating.
• Playing video games for over an hour leads to overeating.
• Larger food portions on your plate leads to overeating.
• Smaller food portions  leads to overeating.
• Oversleeping  leads to overeating.

• Undersleeping  leads to overeating.
• Morbid thoughts  lead to overeating.
• A sense of pride or achievement leads to overeating.
• Small snack packages  lead to overeating.
• Stress  leads to overeating.
• Low-calorie diet meals lead to overeating.
• Fatty foods  leads to overeating
• Eating quickly  leads to overeating

Photo by Jeff Brownell via Flickr

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ehayden at nationaljournal dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Erik Hayden