Outline and Evaluate Factors Influencing Attitudes to Food and Eating Behaviour

‘Outline and evaluate factors influencing attitudes to food and eating behaviour’.

Eating is necessary for survival. Many factors may influence attitudes to food and eating. These are mood, cultural differences and health concerns. Sensory qualities have an influence too, either through learning or an innate basis. Information about food helps to form expectations and therefore affects behaviour and our social environment can also directly or indirectly have an influence. Social learning in terms of both parents and the media can certainly influence our attitudes to food. Of course, individual differences are a mediating factor too.

There are two factors in the development of attitudes to food. One factor is Familiarity and Preference which is the role of learning. Babies are born with taste receptors for sweet, sour, sweet, bitter and unami taste qualities so they can distinguish between foods from an early age. Benton (2002) stated that babies prefer sweet tastes as it reduces distress. This may lead to questioning if food preferences are innate. However, Birch (1999) proposes that humans aren’t born with food preferences but were born with an innate ability to associate food tastes and smells with consequences of eating that food. In this way it can be learnt which foods are good and aren’t good for us.

Parental attitudes and food preferences is another factor in the development of attitudes to food. Parents usually mothers provide the food for the child therefore the mother’s attitude will affect their child preferences. If a mother has concerns over health aspects of food, she will work harder to make sure that her child has a balanced diet. Once the child reaches school, peers become important. Studies have shown that modelling using admiring peers increase consumption of fruit and vegetables. Throughout childhood, children are exposed to a widespread of food advertising on television, using peer models, animation etc., to make food seem more...