What Are The Major Factors Influencing Teen Food Choices?
Parental and Peer Influence
Parents purchase and
prepare most foods
consumed at home by
teens
Parents have the
opportunity to be
positive role models
in the nutritious
choices their teens
make
Family meals
may be an
opportunity for
parents to make
certain foods
available and
model and
reinforce eating
habits
Peers and friends
may be more
influential during
adolescence then
childhood as
social networks
become more
motivating and
important that
have a stronger
influence then
parental norms
Adolescents who are told that
their peers are making low calorie
or high calorie food choices tend
to have the same food choices as
them
Parents are less likely to buy
fresh produce if it is more
expensive then other foods.
Family income influences
teen food choices
They make decisions about
which foods are available at
home and where and when
foods can be eaten in the
house
Be the social influencer
for your friends who are
stuck in unhealthy
behaviors and thinking
patterns, and exercise
your willpower, discipline
and self-control.
Culture and Ethnicity
Food and nutrition is affected by culture to
respect of different beliefs within the culture
Food may be served
and eaten because we
were brought up eating
them and find them
comforting
One indictor of a cultures influence is
how people define only a portion of the
potential food available to them as
edible
Enjoy your culture and the foods that make it special
but try to make traditional foods more diet and health
friendly
Religion plays one of the most influential
roles in the choices and selection of foods
consumed in certain societies
In Hindu, Buddhist, Islam and
Judaism religions the consumption
of pork is frowned upon and any
other meats eaten must meet
halal and kosher requirements
Christianity and Catholic religion
allows all types of meat to be eaten
Cultural beliefs help
people decide what is
edible, who should
prepare the food, how the
food should be served,
how many meals should
be consumed in a day and
time
Due to African American and
Southern Food and Culture,
children teens and adults are at
a greater risk for ailments such
as heart disease and diabetes.
Mediterranean cultures have
higher life expectancies lower
rates of heart disease
Different cultures can
produce people with various
health risks
Religious holidays such as
Passover are observed with
appropriate foods
Emotions
Depression, Anxiety,
Boredom and Stress lead
to unhealthy eating habits
Attempts to change eating habits
will not succeed until one learns
to manage the emotions and
stress in everyday life
Tied to major life
events
People eat in attempt to deal with negative emotions, stressful situations and bad news
Negative moods and positive moods
lead to different food preferences
Tiredness, boredom, anxiety, and loneliness trigger
overeating in adolescent women and found that
these feelings improve after eating
Emotions like anger and depression do
not improve after overeating in
adolescent women especially in obese
women who tend to feel guilty and angry
at themselves
Gender stratified analysis revealed
significant associations of perceived
stress, worries and tension/anxiety
to emotional eating for girls, while
only confused moods was related to
emotional eating for boys
Diets low in carbohydrates
increase feeling of anger,
depression, and tension, diets
high in protein and low in
carbohydrates increase anger and
diets high in carbohydrates have
an uplifting effect on your mood
Individuals in positive
moods who make healthy
food choices are often
thinking more of future
health benefits than
those in negative moods,
who focus more one the
immediate taste and
sensory experience
How to overcome
emotional eating: Be kind
to yourself, seek solutions,
press pause, get moving,
keep it real
Emotion Eating: emotional eating is
the practice of consuming large
quantities of food -- usually "comfort"
or junk foods -- in response to feelings
instead of hunger. Experts estimate
that 75% of overeating is caused by
emotions.
Food Marketing and Media Impact
Advertisers in the media target specific
campaigns to teen age groups
Television, newspapers,
radios, magazines, internet
Manufactures use clever techniques
such as jingles and claims about food's
special properties to lure in children and
teens
The effect of
advertising is damaging
to children and teens
Advertisement
messages are not based
on nutrition but on
emotional and
physiological appeal
Commercials
overpower the
educational and and
informational
broadcasting that
benefits broadcasting
Young adults may not have the intellect
to understand that advertising is not for
marketing a good product but for selling
a product that does not sell well
Children exposed to food advertising consume
more total food energy compared to exposer to
non food advertisements
Marketing creates a desire for many less than nutritious foods
Snack foods are marketed for their fun and
taste, not for their nutritional benefits often
replacing the healthier foods we could be
eating
The media is major source of
information and
misinformation on nutritional
sources
The media can also influence food choices
positively if the information is accurate and
promotion healthy eating. Breakfast cereals
are the most frequently remembered food
advertisements and can promote a healthy
well balanced breakfast if done correctly
• Children today spend an average of
53 hours a week in front of a screen
What can you do?
Talk about it. Limit
or remove. Cook
with your kids. Pay
attention to your
body