If a loved one is showing the results of overindulging this festive season, it's probably best not to say anything.

如果你愛的人在圣誕節后因為暴飲暴食而變胖，你最好什么都不要說。

Telling someone should lose a few lbs - even if you're just trying to help - could actually cause them to gain weight instead, according to new research.

最新研究顯示，告訴某人應該減肥——即使你只是想幫忙——實際上卻會導致他們體重增加。

The study showed that women who receive more 'acceptance messages' are more successful at maintaining and even losing weight overall, compared to those who receive more negative messages.

該研究顯示，獲得更多“認可信息”的女性比收到更多負面信息的女性更易成功地保持身材，甚至減肥。

Professor Christine Logel from Renison University College at the University of Waterloo led the study, which appears as a news release in the December issue of the journal Personal Relationships.

滑鐵盧大學（University of Waterlooled）瑞納森學院的克里斯汀·洛格爾教授（Christine Logel）帶領團隊進行了該研究，研究結果被以新聞的形式發布到了本月的《人際關系》（Personal Relationships）上。

She said: 'When we feel bad about our bodies, we often turn to loved ones - families, friends and romantic partners - for support and advice.

她表示：“當我們對自己的身材不滿意時，常常向親朋好友和戀人這類至親至信的人尋求支持與建議。

'How they respond can have a bigger effect than we might think.'

“而他們的反應會比我們想象的具有更大影響力。”

Researchers studied university-age women (18-21) - who are often dissatisfied with their weight.

研究人員對年齡在18至21歲之間的女大學生進行研究，發現這些女孩常對自己的體重感到不滿。

A team of social psychologists asked the participants their height and weight and how they felt when they saw it on the scale.

一組社會心理學家詢問參與者的身高和體重，和她們看到這些數據時的感受如何。

Five months later, they asked them if they had talked to their loved ones about their concerns and how they responded.

五個月后，研究人員詢問她們是否曾向所愛的人訴說自己的憂慮，以及他們是如何回應的。

Then, after about three months, researchers analyzed whether their weight and their concerns had changed.

之后，大概三個月后，研究人員分析她們的體重和憂慮是否發生了變化。

Findings revealed that those who were told by friends, family, and romantic partners that they looked just fine as they are managed to maintain their weight, or even lose some.

結果表明，那些被朋友、家人和愛人告知身材不賴的女性，成功地控制了體重，甚至減輕了體重。

Those who received less-acceptable messages were likely to gain about4.5 lbson average, whereas women who received comparatively more weight acceptance messages lost a pound.

而那些獲得支持較少的女性，體重平均增加了4.5磅（大約4斤）；而收到相對更多認可信息的的女性瘦了1磅（大約0.9斤）。

The results showed that when women concerned about their weight heard that their loved ones accepted them as they are, they felt better about their bodies, and subsequently they did not gain like other women did, report Science Daily.

每日科學（Science Daily）報道稱，研究結果表明，當女性聽到愛人給與的支持后，會對自己的身材更加滿意，因此不會像其他女性一樣變胖。

Pressure from loved ones about weight loss was not helpful for women already concerned about it, and in fact led women who weren't originally concerned about their weight to gain weight, too.

而來自愛人的壓力不僅不會對那些本就重視減肥的女性有所幫助，事實上，反而會讓起初沒有擔憂體重的女性也增加體重。

The research suggests that feeling better about themselves caused the women to be more active or eat more sensibly. Unconditional acceptance may have also lowered their stress, a known cause of weight gain.

研究顯示，良好的自我感覺會令女性更活躍、更理智地飲食。來自他人無條件的認可也能減輕她們的壓力。眾所周知，壓力正是導致人們體重增加的原因。

（翻譯：zoe212 編輯：丁一）