Outline and Evaluate attitudes to eating behaviour

Outline and Evaluate attitudes to eating behaviour

1. Cultural Differences

   • Ethnicity
     • Striegel-moore et al - Found evidence of 'drive for thinness' among black girls
     • Munford et al - Incident of bulimia greater amongst asian school girls
   • Social Class
     • Dornbusch et al - Higher class females equals greater desire to eb thin and more likely to diet
     • Story et al - Study on American Students, higher social class was related to greater satisfaction with weight and lower rates of weight control and behaviour (like vomiting)

2. Social Learning

   • Media Effects
     • MacIntyre et al - Media has a major impact both on what people eat and attitudes to foods
   • Parental Modelling
     • Meyer + Gast - Significant positive correlation on peer influence + disordered eating
     • Birch + Fisher - Best predictors of daughter's eating behaviour is mother's dietary restrain

3. Mood and Eating

   • Comfort and eating
     • Parker at al - Chocolate has antidepressant effect for some but is likely to prolong negative mood if repeated intake
     • Garg et al - People who feel sad want to 'jolt themselves out of dumps' therefore are more likely to snack
   • Binge eating
     • Studies support a drop in mood after eating

4. Gender Bias - Siever -Only studies made on women's attitudes to eating but homosexuality is a risk factor in development of disordered eating attitudes

5. Reductionist - Oversimplifies a complex process. Focuses on environment and ignores biological factors e.g evolutionary

6. Generalisation - Studies come from variety of groups. Some clinical other sub-clinical and non-clinical. Limits on degree to which we can generalise studies therefore

7. Rozin et al - Food functions differently in the minds and lives of people from different cultures