Role of learning in food preferences Flashcards
Food preferences
The way which people choose from available foods based on biological and learned perceptions e.g taste, health, habit etc
Parental influences - observation
Children may acquire eating behaviour and attitudes by observing behaviour of their parents; research suggests an associated between parents + children’s attitudes to food
Brown and Ogden- reported consistent correlations between parents and their children in terms of snack food intake , eating motivation and body dissatisfaction
Parental influences- availability
Parents may manipulate availability of certain foods either as a reward or because of a health gain ; may also offer one food as a reward for eating another
Research has found this approach is not successful as it has shown although the preference of food is used as the reward increases their tends to be a decrease in preference for the distasteful food
Peers
The behaviour of same age peers has seen to have powerful influence - Greenhalgh et al found observation of peers had both negative + positive effects on food preferences
Positive + Negative modelling
Children exposed to positive modelling(peers eating novel foods) were more likely to try these foods however negative modelling(peers refusing to eat novel foods) inhibited novel food consumption
Birch
Showed how exposure to another child could change food preferences - in the study for 4 lunchtimes children were seated next to other children who preferred a different vegetable to the one they preferred
At the end of the 4 days these children showed a change in their vegetable preference ; evident at a follow up several weeks later
Media effects
Role of social learning is evident in the impact of television and other media Maclntyre et al found the media have a major impact both on what people eat and also attitudes to certain foods
Personal circumstances
Researchers also state that many eating behaviours are limited by personal circumstances like age, income etc ; learning from the media about healthy eating must place the information within the context of their lives
Context
In societies like the US and UK grazing rather than eating meals and the desire for convenience foods are increasing common
Maguire et al found in the UK the n.o of takeaway restaurants has risen by 45% in the last 18 years with areas of highest deprivation rising highest
Gillman et al
Commented on the decline of the family meal in western cultures with young people choosing to eat while watching t.v; eating meals in front of the Tv has been associated with greater consumption of pizza and salty snacks
Suggests eating more informally leads to a learned preference for quick prepared snack foods
*Evaluation- social influences
Limitation of parental influence
Research in this area is limited - studies have been small scale + highly selective sample of white Americans
Robinson et al studied nearly 800 8-9 yr olds from a n.o of different backgrounds which found a complex association ; girls more influenced by parental modelling + control than boys
Research support
Wardle et al
Found parental fruit and vegetable consumption was a strong predictor of children F+V consumption (non-experimental)
Suggests an increase in a behaviour in presence of others displaying the same behaviour
*Cultural influences
Real world application-
Carins et al
Research has shown TV appears to be dominant of children’s exposure to food marketing ; majority being unhealthy foods
This has led to a number of countries developing regulations on unhealthy food adverts on tv - focus on limiting the quantity + reducing the effect they have on children
Research support
Boyland + Halford
Gave supported evidence that exposure to food advertising on TV influences food preferences + intake in children
This relationship between the two was supported by the fact that children who had the greater preference for high carbohydrate + fat foods were the ones that watched the most TV
