Eating Behaviour Flashcards
What factors influence attitudes to food and eating behaviour?
Cultural influences, mood and health concerns.
Which two areas of culture have been researched?
Ethnicity and social class.
What studies have been completed about ethnicity? (2)
Powell and Khan- eating disorders are more characteristic of white women than black or Asian women.
Ball and Kennedy- studied 14,000 women aged 18-23 in Australia and found that the longer they spent their the more their attitudes to food became like native Australians.
AO2- Evaluate the studies into ethnicity. (5)
Mumford et al- bulimia is more common among Asian schoolgirls than their white counterparts.
Striegel-Moore et al- there is a greater ‘drive for thinness’ among black girls than among white girls.
Age bias - schoolgirls
Gender bias - Girls only - ignores men
Culture bias- Australia and ethnocentric
What study has been completed by Dornbusch about social class?
Dornbusch et al - surveyed 7000 American adolescents and found that higher class females had a greater desire to be thin= more likely to diet.
AO2- What is wrong with Dornbusch et al’s study? (5)
Storey et al- higher class American students were more likely to have body satisfaction and less likely to diet.
Age bias- students
Gender bias - looks mainly at women
Ethnocentric bias- American
Other studies have found no relationship between social class and weight
AO2/3- What did Rozin et al find about cultural differences?
They surveyed adults and college students in Belgium, France, USA and Japan about their belief of diet-health link, consumption of healthy foods and satisfaction with their own body. They found that in all areas, except from importance of diet for help, there were significant cultural differences. Plus, women were more like than men to eat for health not pleasure.
AO2/3- What did Wardle et al find about cultural differences?
They surveyed 16000 young adults across 21 European countries and found that the number of people eating a basic healthy diet was low with females doing better than males. There were differences between cultures.
AO2/3- What did Leshem find about cultural differences?
He compared desert Bedouin women to urban Bedouin women and found that they had very similar diets and that both were very different to Jewish women.
When Steptoe et al carried out a large scale survey to test if health concerns affect attitudes to health, what other factors did he find influence food choices?
Sensory appeal Price Convenience of purchasing and prep Weight control Familiarity Mood regulation Natural content of food Ethical concerns
What did Ogden find about health concerns and diet?
Due to the increase in obesity in the Western world, many adults are altering their attitudes to food and changing those of their children.
This may lead to mothers who are dissatisfied with their bodies passing on their concerns to their daughters.
AO2- What is wrong with Ogden’s study about health concerns and diet?
It focuses on the diet of mothers and daughters which may mean eating behaviour are due to gender or genetic instead of health concerns.
What did Verplanken et al find about mood and eating behaviour?
They found a correlation between low self-esteem, impulse buying and snack consumption. This may be a way of coping with the emotional distress it causes.
What is the emotionality theory of obesity proposed by Scacter? (mood)
Who is this supported by?
People who become obese eat for emotion reasons while thin people eat for hunger.
Brusch suggests that both hyperphagia (over-eating) and hypophagia (under-eating) are ways of managing emotions.
What is the masking hypothesis by Ogdem? (mood)
Change in appetite can be a symptom of mood disorder or depression which is masked by a temporary heightened mood induced by eating.
What did Stone and Brownell find about stress and eating behaviour?
What are the possible problems?
They carried out a longitudinal study of 158 students for 84 days and found that stress caused them to eat less.
There may have been attrition.
Can’t generalise outside of students.
What is the carbohydrate-craving syndrome? (mood)
Some people experience an irresistible desire for carbs when stressed - they trigger an improvement in mood and contain an amino acid which is the building-block for serotonin.
How did Corsica and Spring test the carbohydrate-craving symptom? (mood)
They carried out a double-blind, placebo controlled trial of 21 overweight women who craved carbs. They found carbohydrate drinks had a higher ‘anti-depressant’ effect.
AO2-Evaluate the Corsica and Spring study.
+ Avoids demand characteristics
- Gender bias > can’t generalise
- Small sample - only overweight women
- Low ecological validity >lab experiment
How are mood and binge-eating related?
(1- Bulimia)
(2-Wegner)
Research has shown that many bulimics feel anxious pre-binge and display more a more negative mood pre-binge than before a snack or meal.
Wegner - had students record eating patterns and mood for 2 weeks and found that binging is characterised more by a low mood than normal eating > trying to alleviate low mood.
AO2- What is wrong with the binge-eating study? (mood)
Many studies have found that people have a drop in mood after binging. Therefore it is unclear why people continue to binge when the reward is fleeting.
What is comfort eating? (mood)
Where people eat junk food to alleviate a negative mood.
AO2- What is wrong with using comfort eating as an explanation for the relationship between mood and eating behaviour?
Chocolate is seen as the ultimate comfort food due to claims that it is an anti-depressant. However, Parker et al found that eating chocolate as an emotional eating strategy actually prolongs a bad mood.
AO2- What experiment was carried out by Garg-et al? (mood)
What did they find?
What does this suggest?
They split 38 participants into 2 groups; one group watched a sad film and the other watched a happy film. Both group were offered popcorn and grapes.
They found that people watching a sad film ate 36% more popcorn while the people watching the happy film ate far more grapes.
This suggests that happy people eat healthy food to prolong their good mood, while sad people eat junk food for a sudden jolt of euphoria.
AO2/AO3- What is the problem with gender bias in studying mood and eating behaviour?
The studies focus mainly on women, yet Seiver et al found that homosexual men are more likely to have an eating disorder due to male gay subculture and emphasis on the lean, muscular body ideal.
AO2/AO3- What is the problem with generalisability in studying mood and eating behaviour?
The studies look at clinical, non-clinical and sub-clinical populations but it is not possible to generalise from one group to another.
What are the five reasons that Ogden suggests for females wanting to lose weight?
Media influence, family, ethnicity, social class and peer groups and social learning.
What is the pre-load/taste test?
This is where participants are given a food pre-load, which is high in calories, and then given a taste test. The researchers measure the amount food that is eaten in a given time without telling the participants. While some early studies found that restrained eaters feel full after the pre-load and less in the taste test, other studies, such as Herman and Mack found the opposite.
What is the Restraint Theory/ Boundary Model, developed by Herman and Mack? (Failure of dieting)
Restrained eaters create an unrealistic cognitive boundary which is difficult for them to stick to. Therefore, they are unlikely to keep to their diet and also more likely to overeat once they pass the boundary(‘what the heck’ effect)
AO2- What support is there for the Boundary Model?
Wardle et al- Overeating is caused by attempts to diet.
Failed attempts to diet leave obese individuals feeling depressed, like a failure and unable to control their diet.
AO2- What are the limitations of the Boundary Model?
- The finds are a correlation so the cause is unclear > overeating may cause food restraint.
- Ogden -Overeating may be a consequence of obesity.
- Ogden- The Restraint model does not explain how anorexics manage to starve themselves if restraint leads to overeating.
What is the Detail Model by Redden? (Success of dieting)
Eating the same food all the time is boring- focusing on the details of a meal will make meals more interesting and help diet to succeed.
AO2- What support is there for the Detail model?
Redden- 135 participants were split into 2 groups and given 22 jelly beans each (1 at a time). Information about each was displayed on a computer screen. 1 group saw general information while the other saw specific flavour details. Redden found that the participant who saw general info got bored with eating while the others enjoyed it more.
AO2- What are the problems with the jelly bean study by Redden?
- Is a lab experiment > lacks ecological validy
- Lacks internal validity > demand characteristics
- Small sample size and small amount of food
- No difference between dieters and non-dieters
AO2- General evaluation for the ‘explanations for the success or failure of dieting’. (3)
- Free will vs determinism - weight is affected by genetic mechanisms - too much LPL = store more calories and gain weight easily
- Kern et al- 9ps lost 10 pounds and had LPL levels measured before and after - LPL levels rose after weight loss (Is body trying to regain weight?)
- Cultural differences - Some cultures have natural inclination to obesity -Asian adults more prone to obesity than European adults
- Misra - Fat mass greater in Asian children and ados than Europeans and other ethnic groups
- Anti-dieting programmes -Emphasis on hunger regulation and satiety signals over dieting
What is the role of insulin and glycagon in controlling eating and satiation?
What happens if insulin levels are too low?
They are important in maintaining homoeostasis. Insulin regulates blood glucose levels by allowing glucose to enter the bloodstream. It also converts glucose to glycogen which is then stored as energy reserves.
Glucose levels become too high which can result in confusion, loss of consciousness and blindness.
What experiment did Washburn complete to test Cannon’s theory that hunger signals originate in the stomach?
He swallowed a balloon which was attached to a tube. He then inflated it to create a sensation of fullness. He found that this stopped him from feeling hungry and concluded that the presence/absence of food in the stomach sends a signal to the brain’s mechanism of feeding.
AO2- What evidence contradicts Washburn’s findings?
People who have had their stomach removed for medical reasons still feel hungry > Must be more mechanisms and factors involved in eating and satiation.
What did Hetherington and Ranson find is the role of the Ventro-Medial Hypothalamus in controlling eating and satiation?
It is the satiety centre - When rats had lesions in their VHM, they overate and became obese > VHM controls satiation - without it, the rats did not know that they were full.
What did Anald and Brobeck find is the role of the Lateral Hypothalamus in controlling eating and satiation?
It is the feeding centre - When rats had lesions in their LH, they experienced aphagia > LH controls eating - can’t eat without it.
What is the dual centre model of feeding?
When we feel hungry, feeding begins which causes glucose to increase and ghrelin to decrease. The change in these nutrients signals to the VHM that the body is full and that feeding should stop. After a period of time, glucose levels decrease and ghrelin increases which signals to the LH that the body is hungry. The cycle starts again.
