NDT 2126: Food Environment and Eating Behaviour

Eating Behaviour and Health

• Eating behaviour is a complex process that involves the brain and other parts of the body, and is influenced by various factors, including biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors.
• Diet plays a key role in human health and disease prevention, and understanding eating behaviour is crucial for promoting healthy eating habits.

Factors Influencing Eating Behaviour

• Intrapersonal factors:
  • Perceptions: e.g. taste, smell, texture, and appearance of food
  • Beliefs: e.g. beliefs about healthy and unhealthy foods
  • Attitudes: e.g. positive or negative attitudes towards certain foods
  • Motivations: e.g. motivations to eat or not eat certain foods
  • Knowledge and skills: e.g. cooking skills and knowledge of nutrition
  • Social norms and cultural norms: e.g. social norms around eating and cultural norms around food choices
• Interpersonal factors:
  • Family and social networks: e.g. influence of family members and friends on food choices
  • Social learning: e.g. learning through observation and imitation of others
• Environmental factors:
  • Food environment: e.g. availability and accessibility of healthy and unhealthy foods
  • Physical environment: e.g. home, school, and work environments
  • Socio-economic environment: e.g. income and education level

Models of Eating Behaviour

• Developmental model: emphasizes the role of learning and experience in shaping eating behaviour
• Cognitive model: emphasizes the role of cognition and decision-making in eating behaviour
• Psychophysiological model: emphasizes the role of biological and psychological factors in eating behaviour
• Bio-psycho-social-spiritual model: emphasizes the interplay between biological, psychological, social, and spiritual factors in eating behaviour

Socio-Ecological Model

• Examines the interactions between individuals and their environment
• Looks at the multiple levels of influence on eating behaviour, including:
  • Individual factors (e.g. knowledge, attitudes, and skills)
  • Interpersonal factors (e.g. family and social networks)
  • Organizational factors (e.g. school and workplace policies)
  • Community factors (e.g. availability of healthy foods)
  • Public policy factors (e.g. food policies and regulations)

Eating Behaviour and the Lifespan

• Prenatal period: genetic influences on eating behaviour and food preferences
• Infancy and toddlerhood: early experiences with food and development of food preferences
• Childhood: exposure to different foods and development of food neophobia
• Adolescence: influence of peers and media on eating behaviour
• Adulthood: influence of family and social networks on eating behaviour
• Older adulthood: decline in physical function and changes in eating behaviour

Importance of Understanding Eating Behaviour

• Crucial for promoting healthy eating habits and preventing disease
• Helps dietitians and other healthcare professionals to develop effective interventions and strategies for improving eating behaviour
• Recognizes the complexity of eating behaviour and the need for a multifaceted approach to promoting healthy eating habits### Food Purchasing Decision
• Influenced by family, peers, co-workers, and those in various organizations

Eating Behaviour

• A broad term that encompasses food choice, motives, feeding practices, dieting, and eating-related problems (e.g. obesity, eating disorders)
• People make unconscious decisions about food several times a day (e.g. when to eat, what to eat, with whom to eat, and how much to eat)

Biological Determinants of Eating Behaviour

• Basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami
• Preference for fat develops in early infancy or childhood, linked to food texture
• Other sensory experiences: irritation from hot chillies and coolness of menthol

Hunger-Satiety Mechanisms

• Many genetic and biological mechanisms control hunger and satiety
• Today's obesogenic environment has taken body weight control from an instinctual (unconscious) process to one that requires substantial cognitive effort

Sensory-Specific Satiety

• Biologically determined sensory-specific satiety mechanism: get tired of one taste and move on to another over a short time span
• Greater variety of food stimulates bigger meal size and greater food intake

Experience with Food

• People's liking for specific foods and food acceptance patterns are a result of physiological conditioning/learning arising from positive or negative consequences of repeated exposure to a food
• Physiological conditioning: familiarity, learned safety, conditioned food preferences, and aversions, and conditioned satiety
• Social conditioning: social-affective context, social modelling, and parenting practices

Person-Related Determinants of Eating Behaviour

• Intrapersonal determinants: perceptions, beliefs, personal meaning, values, attitudes, motivations, knowledge, and skills
• Interpersonal determinants: social relationships, social norms, and cultural practices

Social and Environmental Determinants of Eating Behaviour

• Physical/built environment: food outlets, homes, schools, workplaces, parks, and industrial areas
• Food availability and accessibility: array of food options, food availability, and food accessibility
• Markets: type of food available, accessibility, and mobility
• Workplaces and schools: food available, accessibility, and convenience
• Home: food availability, accessibility, and convenience

Social and Cultural Environment

• Social relations: eating with others, social norms, and cultural practices
• Cultural practices and family of origin: cultural rules, social norms, and policies
• Social structures and policies: organizations, schools, workplaces, and government policies

Economic Determinants

• Price and resources: poverty rates, education, and energy density
• Time: time constraints, employment, and family responsibilities

Informational Environment

• Media and advertising: print media, digital media, and advertising
• Food advertising: non-core food advertising, sugary drinks, and unhealthy food advertising### Food Environment and Eating Behavior

Overview of Food Environment

• Food environments are physical, social, cultural, economic, and political factors that impact food accessibility, affordability, availability, and quality within a community or region.
• The food environment affects health outcomes, especially eating behavior and diet quality.

Dimensions of Food Environment

• Community food environment: measured by people's proximity to different types of food outlets or the density of various food outlets within a specific geographic area.
• Consumer food environment: characterized by accessibility, variety, price, and quality of foods, as well as consumer information such as promotional signs.
• Organizational food environment: shaped by features such as food preparation, retailing, or food growing facilities in institutional settings.
• Food information environment: includes advertising, labeling, or educational curricula.

Food Environment Affects Health Outcomes

• Food environments are associated with body mass index (BMI) and the regular intake of unhealthy foods amongst adolescents.
• The availability of unhealthy foods in and around schools is positively associated with their consumption.
• Sedentary behavior, frequency of purchasing lunch from school cafeterias, and frequency of purchasing snacks from vending machines are also correlated with the food environment.

Healthy Food Environments

• Provide equitable access to healthy foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, whole foods, and healthier options for prepared and pre-packaged foods.
• Enable healthy food consumption and support healthy eating through community programs and infrastructure.

Methodological Framework for Food Environment Research

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are used to map food environments and observe food behaviors.

Food Environments in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

• Informal vendors dominate food markets in LMICs, providing cheaper, lower-quality foods.
• Food deserts (limited access to healthy foods) and food swamps (wide availability of unhealthy foods) are common in urban communities in LMICs.
• School food environments in LMICs are saturated with unhealthy food vendors.

Rural and Urban Food Environments

• Rural areas often have limited access to healthy food options and higher prices for healthy foods.
• Urban areas have a greater variety of food options, but also higher prices for healthy foods.

Recommendations to Improve the Food Environment

• Restrict promotion of unhealthy food and beverages directed at children.
• Implement mandatory nutritional labeling and calorie menu board labeling.
• Investigate food composition standards and set sodium targets.
• Introduce taxes on sugary drinks and restrict the opening of new fast-food outlets near schools and residential areas.