children acquire their eating behaviour by observing
that of their parents. parents control the food bought
& eaten in the house. studies consistently report
correlations between parents & their children in terms
of snack food intake & body dissatisfaction.
study explored impact of social suggestion on
children's food choices. observed role models
e.g. friend, mother, stranger eating food choices
different from their own. greater change in
child's preference if the model was the mother or
friend but no change with the stranger.
suggests
parental
behaviour &
attitudes are an
essential part of
the process of
social learning
with regard to
the acquisition
of eating
behaviours.
more supporting studies:
survey on 10-12 yr old children
found significant positive
correlation between peer
influence & disordered eating.
Likeability of peers was
considered most important
factor in this relationship.
study on mothers &
daughters found best
predictors of daughters'
eating behaviours were the
mothers' dietary restraint &
their perceptions of the risk of
their daughters becoming
overweight.
both show the importance of social learning
from peers & parents in attitudes to food of
children though it can be seen as much more
than learning alone, through evolutionary
explanation of food preferences it can be
seen that preference for fatty/sweet foods is
a direct result of an evolved adaptation rather
than learning from role models.
media influences both what people eat & their attitudes to
certain foods. many eating behaviours are also limited by
personal circumstances such as age, income & family.
people learn from the media about healthy eating but must
place this into broader context of their lives.
CULTURAL
INFLUENCES
body dissatisfaction & associated
eating disorders are more
characteristic of white women than
black or Asian women. Study on
women in Australia showed that for all
ethnic groups, they reported attitudes &
eating behaviour more similar to that of
women born in Australia.
studies have found
that body
dissatisfaction, eating
disorders & dieting is
more common for
higher class
individuals.
survey on american adolescents cncluded higher class
females had greater desire to be thin, & more likely to diet
to achieve this, than their lower class counterparts.
Another survey found that income was positively
associated with healthy eating.
IDA: studies concentrate on women's
attitudes, especially in terms of body
dissatisfaction & disorders. studies have
shown that in men, homosexuality is a
risk factor in developing disordered
eating & body dissatisfaction/dieting due
to gay subculture emphasising lean,
muscular bodies. Studies only on
women give limited view of attitudes to
food & are therefore gender biased.
research findings are
inconclusive with studies
finding incidents of
bulimia is greater
among asian girls than
white counterparts &
desire to be thin is
greater among black
girls.
MOOD
binge eating is a way
of temporary escape
from negative moods.
one hour before a binge, bulimics
had more negative moods than
before a normal meal or snack.
this relationship was also true for
sub-clinical populations.
when students recorded their eating patterns &
moods, binge days were characterised by low
moods but there was no difference in mood
before or after the binge suggesting binging
does not actually alleviate the low mood.
there are problems
with studies on
different groups
e.g. clinical,
sub-clinical &
normal, as we
cannot generalise
from one group to
another easily, so
degree to which
these studies give
universal
understanding of
causal factors in
eating behaviours
is limited.
comfort eating study: participants
watched either happy or sad films &
offered either popcorn or grapes. in
sad films, 36% more popcorn was
consumed than the happy films &
upbeat film group ate far more
grapes.
people who feel depressed
go for snacks that taste good
to give burst of euphoria.
happy people want to extend
happy mood & choose
healthy snacks.
suggests mood affects
attitudes toward different
food types.