FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE ATTITUDES TO FOOD AND EATING BRHAVOUR

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE ATTITUDES TO FOOD AND EATING BRHAVOUR
One factor that influences attitudes to eating behaviour is mood. People binge eat and comfort eat when in a low mood. For example people with bulimia tend to experience anxiety prior to a binge eating episode this same relationship can also be found in non-clinical populations. This suggests that there is a relationship between binge eating and low mood in general as people with and without bulimia binge eat when in a low mood state. This is also supported by Wegner et al who found that people who binge eat tend to have a low mood before and after eating. This suggests that mood does have an impact on eating behaviour as a low mood may cause people to eat food quickly in a short period of time. Comfort eating also occurs when people are in a low mood. Wansink et al found that when 38 participants were offered popcorn or grapes whilst watching a comedy or sad film 36% of participants watching the sad film consumed more popcorn compared to those watching the comedy which ate more grapes. This suggests that when in a sad/low mood people may go for the option of junk food which provides them with short term pleasure.
Having said this Piomelli found that consuming fats in the form of junk food triggers a binge eating signal. This suggests that although low mood triggers the initial binge the consumptions of fats causes these episodes to continue. This shows that the theory is over simplified and cause and effect cannot be drawn as binge eating may cause a low mood but the fats in junk food could also trigger binge eating. Also it is reductionist as it doesn’t take into account other factors such as social influences which could influence a person’s attitude and behaviour to food. Furthermore most research only uses females as participants this means it is gender bias and cannot be generalised to the male population as male’s attitudes and behaviour to eating may be different. For example siever found that homosexuality is a significance risk factor in developing disorder eating attitudes and behaviour and also have a greater likelihood of dieting.
Furthermore Gibson found that carbohydrates such as chocolate contain an amino acid tryptophan. This is used in the brain in the manufacturing of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Low levels of serotonin are linked with depression. This suggests that people with stress and depression eat more carbs as it increases activity of serotonin which reduces their stress or depression. This in result means people my binge eat as it increases there activity of serotonin which intern makes them feel less depressed or stressed out causing them to eat more.
Another factor is social learning theory this emphasis the impact that observing others (parents)have on our attitudes and behaviour towards food , media can also have an impact on eating behaviours and attitudes to food. According to parental modelling a child’s behaviour is learnt by observing the behaviour of their parents through vicarious reinforcement. Brown and Ogden conducted a study into the relationship between mother’s food intake and a child’s eating behaviour, they found a clear relationship between the mother’s food intake and the child’s behaviour. This suggests that due to the fact that mother control food in the house a child will behaviour accordingly to that of their mother’s behaviour as this may be expected of them. This is further backed by a study that found a correlation between a parent and their child in terms of body dissatisfaction and eating motivations. This suggests that parents can have an influence on child’s eating attitudes and behaviour as food intake, eating motivations, and body dissatisfaction are controlled by the parent or observed by the child.
Having said this, it is too deterministic to assume that parents are the main influence on attitudes to food as other aspects need to be considered such as biological and evolutionary explanations. For example our preference for fatty and sweet food could be from an evolved adaptation in our ancestors. However behaviourists would approve this theory as learning can occur through conditioning.
Another example is media effects this suggests that attitudes and behaviour towards food is learnt from media such as TV magazines and celebs. Maclntyre found that media has an impact on what people eat and their attitudes to food. He also found that personal circumstances such as age gender and economy can also cause people to place information within their boundaries. This suggests that people are influenced by what they see on TV or magazines as it can cause them to believe that this is the norm of what their body should look like. This is further backed by Jones and Buckingham who found that individuals with low self-esteem are likely to idolise images in the media. This suggests that people may diet or have certain attitudes and behaviour towards food as they want to be like models or celebs in the media who are praised for their weight.
Having said this most data conducted into SLT and the impact parents have on attitudes to food and eating behaviour is correlational this means no cause/effect can be established as only a link between two factors is drawn which indicates that extraneous variables cannot be eliminated which could also have an impact showing that the theory is reductionist as it doesn’t take into account other factors such as culture and ethnicity which could also impact on what people eat and their attitudes towards certain foods.