I would take both, chocolate and burger, and fries, and i’m a happy woman. 
besides, women like chocolate because, well, idk, we just do.
Another thing that would lead to under-reporting in Spain (I’ve seen those reports too and wondered about them, as they don’t match my experience). I’ve checked it with half a dozen people, who are originally from different places although all from northern Spain. There’s many items which contain chocolate but which aren’t perceived as being chocolate.
A chocolate-covered doughnut? It’s a sweet pastry. “But it has chocolate!” “Well yeah, buuuut…”
Same for nutella (“it’s not chocolate, it’s nutella!”), bollicaos (“it’s not chocolate, it’s a bun!”), etc.
My married brother can’t have chocolate, it gives him a rash. He’s known his wife (and therefore his mother in law) for 16 years: his mother in law still doesn’t understand that “I can’t eat chocolate” includes “I can’t eat chocolate cake or chocolate-filling swiss roll” :smack:
I think we do eat less chocolate in tablet form; we may also eat less total cocoa due to the penchant for things like “buns with chocolate in the middle” and cocoa milk. Also, consumption of tablet chocolate goes pretty much down to zero in the summer months: if you keep it in the fridge it loses quality, and if you keep it outside it melts. But a study that took all those variables into account… hey, maybe I could propose it to someone who’s working on a PhD in Sociology or Marketing
I dont see why this necessarily needs to be deterministic based on brains and not social or even a stereotype. Yes, there are studies that women have different hypothalamus activity, but women have a lot of differences with men, most of which dont turn out to be easily to digest and marketable memes like “women love chocolate.” You cant just point to the hypothalamus and say “thats it. thats all of it right there, nothing else.” Life is rarely that simple.
My personal take is that its just makes sense to sell this idea because it sells more chocolate. Chocolate is fatty and unhealthy. When men buy it, we just eat it. We dont horde it and share it. Perhaps, because women are more social they share it, so its more visible. Some marketers noticed this and sold us on the idea. Now we have internalized the idea that is socially okay to binge on chocolate and that such a thing as “fine” chocolate exists and they we should expect to pay 5x more for it.
Id really be curious to see if this chocolate madness exists outside of the west. Do mongolian women crave it? Or Koreans? The hypothalamus study is only one part of the puzzle and may not have a real effect on craving or purchasing once you remove the social norms.
Here’s a link to an article that discusses food preference by gender in relation to comfort foods: http://www.mindlesseating.org/pdf/downloads/ComfortFood-P&B_2003.pdf
What I find interesting is that a majority of men AND women like chocolate/candy (unfortunately, the study lumps both together) as a comfort food. There is a slightly larger preference for that option among women, but the difference - 69% compared to 58% - seems to support the position “people like chocolate” much more than the position “women like chocolate.” It also cites that cultural aspects are an influence, such as childhood associations between chocolate and rewards or gifts. So the mere fact that we’re asking “Why do women like chocolate better?” may very well be the answer.