Eating behaviour

• Evolutionary explanations


  Focuses on the adaptive nature of behaviour. Modern behaviours are thought to have evolved because they solved challenges faced by our ancestors.
• Food preferences


  Refers to the way in which people choose from among available food based on biological and learned perceptions such as taste, health characteristics and value.
• Taste aversion


  A learned response to eating spoilt or poisonous food which results in the animal avoiding that food in the future.
• Neophobia


  An extreme dislike and avoidance of anything that is new or unfamiliar. This reduces the risk of unpleasant or dangerous experiences, which posed an evolutionary threat.
• Early humans were hunters whose diets consisted of animals and plants from the natural environment.
• Preference for fatty foods


  Would have been adaptive for early humans as in the EEA, energy sources were vital in order to stay alive and find the next meal. Fat contains twice the number of calories of the equivalent carbohydrate or protein, as well as increasing the palatability or 'appeal' of food, making it desirable by increasing the likelihood of the individual surviving and reproducing.
• Preference for meat


  Comes from the fact that meat has lots of nutrients - something you may not have gained from a vegetarian diet e.g. high levels of iron present in red meat.
• Preference for salt


  May be innate, as evidence shows that babies who had been breast-fed (containing low levels of salt) preferring salted over non-salted cereals (Harris et al, 1990). Since these babies, at age 4 months, had not previously been exposed to high concentrations of salt, this implies that the preference for salt is innate.
• Preference for sweet food


  The taste of sweetness is associated with a large amount of sugar and a high concentration of it to give you energy e.g. fruit. Fruit also provides the vitamins and minerals that are necessary for growth and bodily functions e.g potassium to maintain healthy blood pressure and fibre to reduce cholesterol.
• Fructose


  Found in many fruits, is particularly important in evolutionary terms, because it provides an easy and rapid supply of energy. Such a preference has been demonstrated by Steiner (1977), who found that children could even differentiate between different types of sugars. Menella (2014) also found that children who preferred sweet solutions over salty tended to be tall for their age. This may be linked to how in the EEA, those who sought out more calories were more likely to grow and survive.
• Taste aversion


  It is a learned response to eating toxic, or spoilt food. When taste aversion takes place the animal avoids eating the food that made it ill, where a bitter or sour taste usually characterises toxic food.
• Taste aversion


  • Garcia et al (1955) studied rats who'd been made ill through radiation after eating saccharin, and the rats developed an aversion to the saccharin.
• Seligman's theory of learned preparedness


  Individuals are more likely to fear 'prepared' stimuli (e.g. fire, deep water etc) which had posed a threat to their evolutionary ancestors, as opposed to 'non-prepared' stimuli. The Garcia et al. study shows that poison is an example of a 'prepared' stimuli and rats can therefore be classically conditioned to avoid it, thus increasing their chances of survival.
• Neophobia


  Food neophobia is a reluctance to consume new or unusual food. It is a naturally occurring reaction that protects animals from being poisoned. This response is a critical survival strategy for diets that are restricted.
• Neophobia


  • Ratcliffe et al (2003) suggested that animals with constricted diets, such as koalas, tend not to have neophobia. However, species that have broad diets do display signs of food neophobia.
• This supports the idea that neophobia is an adaptive behaviour which increases the likelihood of survival by reducing the chance of toxicity or poisoning.
• Neophobia in humans


  The reluctance to consume new or unusual foods. Martins et al suggests that neophobia is stronger in animal products than non animal products as animals products pose a greater risk of illness e.g. mass vaccination of animals and disease which can be transmitted from animals to humans (such as Ebola and Salmonellosis).
• Neophobia can be maladaptive


  It can lead to people restricting their diets and they may not get all the nutrients they need or they may not get all the benefits they would do.
• Neophobia


  • Birch et al. demonstrated that neophobia is strongest between the ages of 2 and 6 years old, where infants are increasingly eating foreign foods without their parents guidance. Neophobia then becomes weaker after this period, to encourage the consumption of other unknown foods which may contain high levels of minerals, vitamins, fats etc.
• Perry et al (2015) found that neophobia is associated with poorer diet quality in children.
• Research has shown that repeated taste exposure increases preference for unfamiliar food (Birch et al). This change may only be temporary and the underlying neophobic tendency is likely to persist.
• Learning


  The acquisition of knowledge, skills or habits through experience, observation or teaching.
• Parental influences (Social explanation)

  A child can learn eating behaviour and attitudes to food by observing their parents.
• Parental influences


  • Brown et Ogden (2004) reported consistent correlations between parents and children in terms of snack food intake, eating motivations and body dissatisfaction.
• Parental manipulation of food availability

  Parents may also manipulate the availability of certain foods e.g. "You can have pudding after you've eaten your vegetables". Birch et al shows that this approach is not successful as the preference for the reward food increases but the preference for the other food decreases.
• Peer influence (Social explanation)

  Bandura's social learning theory illustrates how we learn from peers (Attention, retention, reproduction, motivation - the 4 mediational processes). Following the behaviour of peers the same age as you has a great effect.
• Peer influence

  • Greenhalgh et al (2009) found that children who sat next to peers with positive modelling were more likely to try an unfamiliar food, whereas negative modelling had a profound effect with children refusing to try the unfamiliar food.
• Peer influence


  • Birch et al (1980) illustrated how exposure to another child could change food habits. Birch sat children next to others who had a different vegetable preference. After 4 days the children showed a change in their preference of vegetable and this change was still evident weeks later.
• Media effects (cultural explanation)

  Macintyre et al (1998) found that media has a major impact not only on what people eat but their attitudes to food. People gain knowledge from the media about what to eat however sometimes this information is limited by persona circumstances of age, income.
• Media effects on adolescents

  Adolescents who watch moderate amounts of TV will be exposed to adverts which generally promote unhealthy food, using 'fun' themes and promoters to which the children can identify with. Therefore, using the same mechanism as social learning theory, the children identify with and imitate the food choices of these role models.
• Media restrictions have now been put in place for advertising for children with promotional characters and offers on tv are restricted by governments.
• The context of meals (cultural explanation)

  In societies like the US and the UK, the need for quick convenient food is increasing with many people grazing rather than eating meals.
• The context of meals

  • Maguire et al (2015) found that in the UK, the number of takeaway restaurants has risen by 45% in the last 18 years, with the areas of highest deprivation seeing the greatest rise.
• The context of meals

  • Gilemen et al (2000) found that eating more informally in front of the TV led to an increased preference for quickly prepared food.
• Cultural preferences for meat

  Britain and France are two of the many countries which favour offal i.e. every part of the animal is eaten. In contrast, despite the USA eating much steak, they are opposed to offal. This shows that cultural differences in what is considered 'edible' are significant.
• Cultural norms of standards for meals


  Different cultures will have different ideas of what is a 'proper' meal. In many Western countries, a 'proper' meal will contain meat and vegetables, as opposed to other cultures, such as China and Japan, where there is a greater emphasis on many smaller meals being eaten together.
• The role of culture in food preference


  Children identify their parents as role models, and so will imitate their feeding patterns i.e. the frequency and time at which food is served. This is particularly the case if the adults are seen to be vicariously reinforced for obeying these rules, as well as encouraging the child to explore new food through positive flavour-flavour learning ('a type of Pavlovian conditioning where a neutral flavour is paired with an already preferred flavour', and so repeated pairings result in an association between the two).
• Media influence on food preference

  • Boyland and Halford (2013) provided evidence that food advertising influences preference and intake in children. However, it affects individuals differently, with adverts for foods high in fat, salt and sugar having a stronger influence on overweight children. Children who had the greatest preference for carbohydrate and high fat foods were also the ones who watched the most television.
• Peer influence on food preference

  • Jansen and Tenny found that seeing other children model "light" yogurts and drinks led to a preference for other light products in primary school children.
• This behaviour can be identified as social facilitation i.e. "the tendency for people to perform differently when in the presence of others compared to when they are alone".