This document discusses factors that influence eating behavior and food choices. It explores how mood, social learning from parents and family, and health concerns can impact attitudes towards food. Several studies are summarized that show: 1) People in negative moods tend to consume more unhealthy snacks; 2) Children's food preferences and habits are influenced by observing and learning from their parents; and 3) Media characters on TV can encourage children to try healthy foods, but not necessarily choose them over salty or sugary snacks.

1. Eating behaviour
L/O
 To be able to explain 1 factor that affects food choice and eating
behaviour.

2. Introduction to Eating Behaviour
 Make a list of 3 of your favourite foods, 3 of your least favourite
foods 1 type of food that you have never tried.
 Compare your lists with those in your group.
 Discuss
 Are there any types of food that more than one of you put in the same
category?
 Are the foods in one category more healthier than the other?
 When did you first try each of these foods?
 What made you decide you didn’t like them?
 Are there particular times where you eat your favourite foods more often?
 Are any of these types of food advertised on TV?
 Do your parents/family have similar likes and dislikes to food to you?

3. +
How can you tell if your eating behaviour
is normal?
 People’s attitudes to food and eating vary dramatically.
 Can you think of one person you know who you think has an
‘unhealthy’ relationship with food?
 What makes someone’s behaviour ‘unhealthy’?
 Is it about the food they eat?
 Or when they eat?
 Or how much they eat?
Who is healthier in the picture?

4. List as many factors as you can that affect our food
choice and eating behaviour:

5. +
Factors Influencing Food
 http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html

6. +
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE
ATITUDES TO FOOD AND EATING
BEHAVIOUR
 Mood
 Social Learning
 Health concerns
We are going to focus on these
two:
Exam link
Discuss the role of one or more factors
that influence attitudes to food. (4 marks +
8 marks)

7. +
In your groups you have been given
a piece of research
 You must act out what your piece of research
found out about eating habits.
 You can choose whether to do this as a role
play or a series of freeze frames.
 Your audience must be able to answer the
following question from your performance:
‘What did the study find out about how
attitudes to food and eating behaviour
can be influenced’. So make sure your
performance is clear
 Decide in your groups who will be the
narrator, participants, researcher etc.

9. + Comfort Eating
 Garge et al (2007)
• Observed food choices in 38 participants watching
a funny (sweet home Alabama) or sad movie (love
story)
• Participants were offered buttered popcorn or
grapes
• Participants watching the sad film consumed 36%
more popcorn than those watching funny film, who
ate more grapes
• When given the nutritional information before the
consumption of the unhealthy food, snacking
dropped dramatically

10. +
Davis et al 1988
 Studied patients with bulimia nervosa
 Patients recorded their food intake and mood every hour for a
number of days
 The reports showed that negative mood states before a binge
episode were higher than before a normal meal.
 Suggests that negative moods are an influence on eating
behaviour amongst the clinical population

11. +
Wegner et al (2002)
 Students recorded
their eating patterns
and mood states over
2 weeks.
 Finding 1:
Binge days were lower
in mood state than
non binge days.
 Finding 2:
What does the graph
show?
Hours relative to Binge

12. +
Social Learning and Eating
Behaviour

13. This could be because:
• Children observe the attitudes
and eating behaviour of their
parents. (Social learning)
And
• Parents control the food
brought and served at home.
• Brown and Ogden (2004)
•Found that there were correlations between parents
and their children in terms of snack food intake, eating
motivations and body dissatisfaction.

14. + Media effects and attitudes to
eating

15. Media:
 How does the media affect our attitudes to
eating?
Negative Positive

16. +
Media:
MacIntyre et al (1998) found that
the media have a major impact
both on what people eat, and also
their attitudes to certain foods.

17. +
Task:
 Look at the pictures:
 For each picture state how the media influences
people.
 What attitudes are people going to have from each of
these pictures.
 Find your own images – and create a collage to show
how the media has a part to play in food influences.
Suggest how they do this.

18. •Kotler et al (2012) Conducted two experiments to assess the role of
media characters in influencing children’s food choices.
•Experiment 1: Children’s opinion
Children were more likely to indicate a preference for one food over
another when one was associated with TV characters with whom
they were familiar. However, when children were asked to choose
between a healthy food with a favoured character and a sugary or
salty snack with an unfamiliar one, this effect did not happen so it
seems the TV characters can not over ride a preference for
sweet/salty foods.
•Experiment 2: Children’s choice
Children were more willing to try more pieces of a healthy food if a
favoured character, in comparison with an unknown character, is
promoting that food.

19. +
Evaluation - research
 Food dudes
 Food Dudes