2.2: Eating Behaviors and Food Choices

Learning Objectives

Define the major influences that affect how people make food decisions.

Exploring Why and How We Eat

Eating is not just about nutrition and fueling our bodies, though that is a big part of it. Eating is cultural, pleasurable, and social.

How we eat is largely determined by how we are trained to eat growing up (though we can change our habits later). For instance, if the people we ate with as a child dieted, we are more likely to diet or develop an eating disorder. If the people we ate with as a child ate only packaged food, we are more likely to eat packaged food and not learn to cook with fresh ingredients (or it can spur an interest in cooking!).

Changing behaviors as an adult can be difficult, but not impossible. Knowledge of nutrition and dietary guidelines may influence the food choices you make, but there are a number of other factors that affect the dietary choices individuals make.

Factors that Influence Food Choices

• Taste, texture, and appearance
  Individuals have a wide range of tastes which influence their food choices, leading some to dislike milk and others to hate raw vegetables. Some foods that are very healthy, such as tofu, may be unappealing at first to many people. However, creative cooks can adapt healthy foods to meet most people’s taste.
  
• Economics
  Access to fresh fruits and vegetables may be scant, particularly for those who live in economically disadvantaged or remote areas, where cheaper food options are limited to convenience stores and fast food.
  
• Early food experiences
  People who were not exposed to different foods as children, or who were forced to swallow every last bite of overcooked vegetables, may make limited food choices as adults.
  
• Habits
  It’s common to establish eating routines, which can work both for and against optimal health. Habitually grabbing a fast food sandwich for breakfast can seem convenient, but might not offer substantial nutrition. Yet getting in the habit of drinking an ample amount of water each day can yield multiple benefits.
  
• Culture
  The culture in which one grows up affects how one sees food in daily life and on special occasions.
  
• Geography
  Where a person lives influences food choices. For instance, people who live in Midwestern US states have less access to seafood than those living along the coasts.
  
• Advertising
  The media greatly influences food choice by persuading consumers to eat certain foods.
  
• Social factors
  Any school lunchroom observer can testify to the impact of peer pressure on eating habits, and this influence lasts through adulthood. People make food choices based on how they see others and want others to see them. For example, individuals who are surrounded by others who consume fast food are more likely to do the same.
  
• Health concerns
  Some people have significant food allergies, to peanuts for example, and need to avoid those foods. Others may have developed health issues, such as heart disease, that require them to follow a low salt diet.
  
• Emotions
  There is a wide range in how emotional issues affect eating habits. When faced with a great deal of stress, some people tend to overeat, while others find it hard to eat at all.
  
• Green food/Sustainability choices
  Based on a growing understanding of diet as a public and personal issue, more and more people are starting to make food choices based on their environmental impact. Realizing that their food choices help shape the world, many individuals are opting for a vegetarian diet, or, if they do eat animal products, striving to find the most “cruelty-free” options possible. Purchasing local and organic food products and items grown through sustainable processes also helps shrink the size of one’s dietary footprint.

Discussion Starter:

What are some of the factors that influence the way you eat? Can you name specifics?

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