What is your favourite food and why?

My favourite food is pistachio ice-cream because it reminds

me of sunny holidays in Italy – it makes me

feel happy!

Eating Behaviour PSYA3Exam: 1.5 hours (Gender & Relationships)

Title: Attitudes to Food

LO: to be able to explain how culture and mood influence our

attitudes towards food

How do they make you feel?

Birch describes 3 ways our attitudes are created: (AO1)

Birch (1999)ExposureSocial LearningAssociative Learning

Exposure:We like food we are familiar with

Social Learning:We are more likely to eat food our peers eat

Associative Learning:We eat food associated with good times and avoid food associated with a bad experience

Supporting Studies (AO2)Exposure:Birch & Marlin (1982)8-10 exposures can change neophobia to a likeness for that food.

Social Learning:Birch et al (1980) Peas vs CarrotsSat 5 year olds next to a peer with opposing food preferenceResults showed a persistent preference for new food.

Lowe et al (1998) Food DudesYounger children with food refusal were changed with videos of older children eating those foods

Associative Learning:Birch et al (1980) Food associated with positive adult attention increased preference for the food

What does his theory not explain?

What are limitations of taking a “Learning”

approach?

Free will and determinism?

“This matters because this theory does not account for individual differences, in particular the idea that we have a choice over what foods we eat. In a western world where a huge range of differing foods are easily accessible we cannot take such a determinist approach to the development of attitudes to food.”

Title: The Influence of our Parents…

The best predictor of a Girl’s eating pattern is her mother (Fisher 2000)

There is a significant correlation between the diets of mothers and their children (Ogden, 2007)

Mothers dissatisfied with their body size/shape can pass this attitude onto their daughters (Ogden)

How Culture influences our attitudes towards food

Wardle et al (1997)1. Describe the sample2. Who eats more healthily,

men or women?3. Who eats the most fibre?4. Who eats the most & least

Fruit?5. What makes a

Mediterranean diet so successful?

6. What 2 evaluation points can you make?

(Hint: sample & movement of people)

LO: to be able to explain how Culture influence our attitudes towards food

Lesham (2009)1. What 3 groups did

they compare?2. What were their 3 key

findings?3. What was surprising?4. What conclusion can

we make about the effect of culture & diet?

5. What did Lesham find in Israel?

LO: to be able to explain how Mood influence our attitudes towards food

How does this make you feel?How about this one?

When viewing a sad movie,

pps ate more buttered

popcorn than participants

watching a comedy who

chose grapes. (Garg, 2001)

LO: to be able to explain how Mood influence our attitudes towards food

Stress makes me eat more!

Stress makes me eat less!

Category 1

Category 2

Category 3

Category 4

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Chart Title

Series 1 Series 2 Series 3

STRESS!!!

Stress causes an INCREASE in food intake!

Stress causes an DECREASE in food intake!

Title: STRESS & food intake

Create this table in your booksResearch from page 166: Place the name of each study in the corresponding column

Extension: How can we use the ‘stress eating paradox’ to write a concluding paragraph?

LO: to be able to explain how Mood influence our attitudes towards food

How can we use the ‘stress eating paradox’ to write a concluding paragraph?

“There is clearly mixed findings when discussing whether stress increases or decreases food intake. Stone & Brownell (1994) suggested the ‘stress eating paradox’ to explain this; either stress changes food intake generally or stress only causes change in eating behaviour in vulnerable individuals. But even research focusing on this new model is mixed; Cools et al (1992) stress only increased food intake with those already dieting. But Oliver et al (2000) found no evidence for stress induced eating with those already restraining their intake. The relationship between stress and food intake we can conclude is a very complicated one and needs to be researched further to establish a more reliable theory.”