The New York Times ran a piece (story) this morning on a new study providing further evidence that our surroundings can have an important impact on how much we eat. In the study (study), researchers Brian Wansink and Koert van Ittersum created a quiet, soothing dining area in a fast food restaurant and analyzed whether this setting had an impact on how much people ate and how much they enjoyed their food compared to diners in the normal section of the establishment. What they found was that diners in the quiet section enjoyed their food more and spent more time eating, but ultimately ate less food (about 175 calories less per meal on average) compared to other diners.