Discuss research into factors influencing attitudes to food and/or eating behaviour. (24 marks)

Discuss research into factors influencing attitudes to food and/or eating behaviour. (24 marks)

Mood is one factor influencing eating behaviour. Garcia conducted a study in which 38 participants were assigned to two conditions. In the first, they watched an upbeat, comic film and in the second they watched a sad film. In both conditions, grapes and popcorn were provided as snacks. It was observed that in the sad film condition, 31% more popcorn was consumed than in the upbeat film- opting for grapes. Garcia concluded that the calorific, sweet food jolted the person into a state of euphoria, whilst those already in a good mood chose healthy snacks to prolong their good mood. There are some methodological issues surrounding this study. Firstly, popcorn is a typical cinema food which may have meant that higher quantities of it were consumed due to that association. Moreover, individual differences are likely to pose a problem- some may simply prefer popcorn. To combat this, perhaps a repeated measures design would have been more appropriate, as participants are likely not to ascertain the study because the dependent variable is not particularly out of the ordinary. Moreover, other factors may have influenced eating behaviour in the study- for example what time of day it was and people’s eating habits and timings. This may reduce the internal validity of the study. 

However, it is shown that by levelling out mood through medication, comfort eating is reduced. This has real world applications in patients suffering from bipolar- a mood disorder- who are likely to be overweight and are prescribed mood altering drugs such as lithium. Although this does support that mood does influence eating behaviour, perhaps it could only be prescribed to major mood changes and not ones we experience perhaps dozens of times a day (and we know this doesn’t influence our food behaviour). Moreover, it is culturally biased. Mood cannot be afforded to influence eating behaviour in places such as Sub Saharan Africa. Therefore it could be said to be a factor only in affluent, Western societies and not a universal attributer.

Another factor influencing attitudes to food is culture. Ball and Kennedy followed (not literally!) 14000 women in Australia and found that the more time the women spent in Australia, the more their eating habits coincided with those women who had been born there. This shows that eating attitudes and behaviours are influenced by the culture we live in and we adapt to the environment- acculturation. This research perhaps highlights but does not explain that there could be an evolutionary explanation for acculturation, it would aid the survival of those women to begin to display the same eating attitudes and behaviours and aid social cohesion. We have still retained this ability to adapt to our environment and food availability/culture. However, it is endocentric, and therefore this study cannot be generalised to men. There may be social factors involved which determines whether different genders respond to acculturation differently or whether it is universal. Moreover, in all cultures, food is subject to availability and our preferences depend on this and could be shaped by this.

Social Learning Theory in terms of eating behaviour and attitudes states that these are observed and imitated from our parents. Brown and Odgen found a correlation between the child’s motivation to eat, body dissatisfaction and snack intake and the mother’s motivation, dissatisfaction and intake. This suggests that the child has observed and imitated the mother. Birch and Fish also found that the best predictor for a child’s eating habits is the mother’s food constraint and anxiety about the child being overweight. However this is reductionist. The correlation may be down to many other things such as genetics. We know that anorexia is more likely to manifest in children with a parent who previously suffered. It also doesn’t measure or mention the father’s eating habits and what influence this has on the child’s development (especially if a family consists of a single dad and his child, for example). Therefore it has a gender bias. The media, however, is an active example of SLT and proves that it is an influencing factor - people’s attitudes on food are known to be effected by observing and copying adverts, for example, and celebrities following specific diets.