EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATIONS OF FOOD PREFERENCES

• WHAT IS THE EEA?

  environment of evolutionary adaption

  -> in which a species first evolved
• WHERE DID HUMANS SEPARATE AS A SPECIES?

  African Savannah
• HUMAN PREFERENCES IN FOOD?

  sweet, salty and fatty over sour and bitter

  -> exist due to challenges faced by ancestors

  -> innate favouritism towards foods that benefit survival

  -> innate avoidance towards what causes harm

  Seligman suggested we have a 'biological preparedness' to learn associations more easily that promote survival
• HOW ARE INNATE PREFERENCES ADAPTIVE?

  SALTY

  • replace salts lost through sweating

  SWEET

  • sweet fruits provided more energy from sugar
  • more likely to survive

  FATTY

  • diet rich in calories
  • energy resources are vital to stay alive
  • sought by hunters

  SOUR

  • avoid expired food
  • survive and pass on genes

  BITTER

  • defense mechanism
  • detect harmful toxins in plants/ poisonous foods
  • survive and pass on genes
• TASTE AVERSION LEARNING?

  • innate predisposition to avoid potentially dangerous food
  • after ingestion of food
  • nausea, sickness, vomiting
  • all ages
  • adaptive trait/ survival mechanism
• FOOD NEOPHOBIA?

  • innate predisposition to avoid anything new (fear of new food)
  • all animals have natural aversion to new foods
  • adaption
  • common ages 2 to 6
• EVALUATION?

  + Harris et al

  + Gibbs and Wardle

  -Negative RWA

  + Garcia et al

  + Rosenstein and Oster

  -Fails to consider social/ cultural factors
• HARRIS ET AL?

  • babies smile at sweet foods
  • prefer salted cereal over unsalted cereal
  • both at first exposure
  • preference for sweet and salty foods is innate
• GIBBS AND WARDLE?

  • 4 to 5 year olds more likely to choose bananas and potatoes
  • most calorific
  • preference for fats that encouraged ancestor survival
  • supports evolutionary theory
• NEGATIVE RWA?

  • food industry exploited human bias
  • leading to high sugar/ carbohydrate and low fruits/ vegetables in diet
  • problems for NHS and economy
• GARCIA ET AL?

  • rats made ill from saccharin solution and radiation
  • opted to be thirsty
  • aversion is innate as they only drank every now and then
  • argues against Pavlovian conditioning (as radiation and saccharin solution must constantly be paired)
• ROSENSTEIN AND OSTER?

  • babies lip pursing to sour foods
  • mouth gaping to bitter foods
  • innate aversion to sour or bitter foods
• FAILS TO CONSIDER SOCIAL/ CULTURAL FACTORS?

  • Brown and Ogden
  • correlations between parents and children (snack food intake, eating motivations and body dissatisfaction)
  • incomplete explanation for contemporary food preferences