Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T01:54:37.993Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Food choice and intake: the human factor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2007

David J. Mela*
Affiliation:
Consumer Science Unit, Unilever Research, 3130 AC Vlaardingen, The Netherlands
*
Corresponding Author: Dr David Mela, fax +31 10 460 5876, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Human perceptions and selection of food are derived from the prevailing and momentary food, agro-economic and cultural environment, cognitive and biological characteristics of individuals, and the real and perceived intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of foods themselves. The range of items typically chosen and consumed within a given population is largely determined by interaction of the external environmental context with guiding sets of implicit and explicit social and psychobiological ‘rules’. Within the rather broad limits of biology, individual food choices and intake behaviours relate to and reflect aspects of food availability, existing habitual behaviours, learning mechanisms, and individual beliefs and expectations. Many of the relevant features of these variables are uniquely human, together determining what is ‘food’, when, how, by and with whom it is chosen and eaten, and in what quantities. They also provide the opportunities for individuals to establish and maintain a relatively stable set of culturally and biologically determined affective responses (‘likes’) and intake behaviours. Understanding of the potential contribution of these influences under different conditions can serve to explain many of the observed characteristics of human eating, and highlight potential avenues for intervention.

Type
Symposium on ‘Functionality of nutrients and behaviour’
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1999

References

Aaron, JI, Mela, DJ & Evans, RE (1994) The influences of attitudes, beliefs and label information on perceptions of reduced-fat spread. Appetite 22, 2537.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baeyens, F, Eelen, P, Crombez, G & van den Burgh, O (1992) Human evaluative conditioning: Acquisition trials, presentation schedule, evaluative style and contingency awareness. Behavioral Research and Therapy 30, 133142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baeyens, F, Eelen, P, van den Burgh, O & Crombez, G (1990) Flavor-flavor and color-color conditioning in humans. Learning and Motivation 21, 434455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baeyens, F, Vansteenwegen, D, de Houwer, J & Crombez, G (1996) Observational conditioning of food valence in humans. Appetite 27, 235250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barker, ME, Ogden, K & Powers, HJ (1996) ‘Fruit instead of cakes?’: An evaluation of a fat-lowering dietary intervention. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 55, 120A.Google Scholar
Beauchamp, GK, Cowart, BJ & Schmidt, HJ (1991) Development of chemosensory sensitivity and preference. In Smell and Taste in Health and Disease, pp. 405416 [Getchell, TV, Doty, RL, Bartoshuk, LM and Snow, JB Jr, editors]. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Beauchamp, GK & Wysocki, CJ (1990) Perception of the odor of androstenone: influence of genes, development, and exposure. In Taste, Experience, and Feeding, pp. 105115 [Capaldi, ED and Powley, TL, editors]. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birch, LL (1990 a) The control of food intake by young children: the role of learning. In Taste, Experience, and Feeding, pp. 116135 [Capaldi, ED and Powley, TL, editors]. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birch, LL (1990 b) Development of food acceptance patterns. Developmental Psychology 26, 515519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birch, LL (1998) Psychological influences on the childhood diet. Journal of Nutrition 128, 407S410S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birch, LL, Billman, J & Salisbury, Richards S (1984) Time of day influences food acceptability. Appetite 5, 109116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birch, LL & Deysher, M (1985) Conditioned and unconditioned caloric compensation: evidence for self-regulation of food intake by young children. Learning and Motivation 16, 341355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birch, LL, Gunder, L, Grimm-Thomas, K & Laing, DG (1998) Infants’ consumption of a new food enhances acceptance of similar foods. Appetite 30, 283295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birch, LL, McPhee, L, Shoba, BC, Pirok, E & Steinberg, L (1987) What kind of exposure reduces children’s food neophobia? Looking vs. tasting. Appetite 9, 171178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birch, LL, McPhee, L, Steinberg, L & Sullivan, S (1990) Conditioned flavor preferences in young children. Physiology and Behavior 47, 501505.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birch, LL & Marlin, DW (1982) ‘I don’t like it, I never tried it’. Effects of exposure to food on two-year-old children’s food preferences. Appetite 4, 353360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Booth, DA (1977) Satiety and appetite are conditioned reactions. Psychosomatic Medicine 39, 7681.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Booth, DA, Mather, P & Fuller, J (1982) Starch content of ordinary foods associatively conditions human appetite and satiation, indexed by intake and eating pleasantness of starch-paired flavours. Appetite 3, 163184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borah-Giddens, J & Falciglia, GA (1993) A meta-analysis of the relationship in food preferences between parents and children. Journal of Nutrition Education 25, 102107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bornstein, RF (1989) Exposure and affect: overview and meta-analysis of research, 1968–1987. Psychological Bulletin 106, 265298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caputo, FA & Mattes, RD (1993) Human dietary responses to perceived manipulation of fat content in a midday meal. International Journal of Obesity 17, 241244.Google Scholar
Cardello, AV (1994) Consumer expectations and their role in food acceptance. In Measurement of Food Preferences, pp. 253297 [MacFie, HJH and Thomson, DMH, editors]. London: Blackie.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daillant-Spinnler, B & Issanchou, S (1995) Influence of label and location of testing on acceptability of cream cheese varying in fat content. Appetite 24, 101106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, LB & Porter, RH (1991) Persistent effects of early odor exposure on human neonates. Chemical Senses 16, 169174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Castro, JM (1993) A twin study of genetic and environmental influences on the intake of fluids and beverages. Physiology and Behavior 54, 677687.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deliza, R & MacFie, HJH (1996) The generation of sensory expectation by external cues and its effect on sensory perception and hedonic ratings: A review. Journal of Sensory Studies 11, 103128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deliza, R, MacFie, HJH & Hedderley, D (1996) Information affects consumer assessment of sweet and bitter solutions. Journal of Food Science 61, 10801084.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drewnowski, A (1990) Genetics of taste and smell. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics 63, 194208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engell, D, Bordi, P, Borja, M, Lambert, C & Rolls, B (1998) Effects of information about fat content on food preferences in pre-adolescent children. Appetite 30, 269282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forbes, JM & Rogers, PJ (1994) Food selection. Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews 64, 10651078.Google Scholar
Forsyth, A, MacIntyre, S & Anderson, A (1994) Diets for disease? Intraurban variation in reported food consumption in Glasgow. Appetite 22, 259274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Furst, T, Connors, M, Bisogni, CA, Sobal, J & Winter, Falk L (1996) Food choice: a conceptual model of the process. Appetite 26, 247266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garr, JL & Stunkard, AJ (1974) Taste aversions in man. American Journal of Psychiatry 131, 12041207.Google Scholar
Greene, LS, Desor, JA & Maller, O (1975) Heredity and experience: Their relative importance in the development of taste preference in man. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 89, 279284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammerl, M & Grabitz, H-J (1996) Human evaluative conditioning without experiencing a valued event. Learning and Motivation 27, 278293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heather, N & Bradley, BP (1990) Cue exposure as a practical treatment for addictive disorders: why are we waiting. Addictive Behaviors 15, 335337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jack, FR, Piacentini, MG & Schröder, MJA (1998) Perception and role of fruit in the workday diets of Scottish lorry drivers. Appetite 30, 139149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jansen, A (1994) The learned nature of binge eating. In Appetite. Neural and Behavioural Bases, pp. 193211 [Legg, CH and Booth, DA, editors]. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, SL & Birch, LL (1994) Parents’ and children’s adiposity and eating style. Pediatrics 94, 653661.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, SL, McPhee, L & Birch, LL (1991) Conditioned preferences: Children prefer flavors associated with high dietary fat. Physiology and Behavior 50, 12451251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kähkönen, P & Tuorila, H (1998) Lack of reduced-fat information on expected and actual hedonic and sensory ratings of sausage. Appetite 30, 1323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kähkönen, P, Tuorila, H & Lawless, H (1997) Lack of effect of taste and nutrition claims on sensory and hedonic responses to a fat-free yoghurt. Food Quality and Preference 8, 125130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kähkönen, P, Tuorila, H & Rita, H (1996) How information enhances acceptability of a low-fat spread. Food Quality and Preference 7, 8794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keenan, DP, Achterburg, C, Kris-Etherton, PM, Aubsabha, R & Von Eye, A (1996) Use of qualitative and quantitative methods to define behavioral fat-reduction strategies and their relationships to dietary fat reduction in the Patterns of Dietary Change Study. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 96, 12451250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kern, DL, McPhee, L, Fisher, J, Johnson, S & Birch, LL (1993) The postingestive consequences of fat condition preferences for flavors associated with high dietary fat. Physiology and Behavior 54, 7176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krondl, M, Coleman, P, Wade, J & Milner, J (1983) A twin study examining the genetic influence on food selection. Human Nutrition: Applied Nutrition 37A, 189198.Google Scholar
Lappalainen, R & Sjödén, P-O (1992) A functional analysis of food habits. Scandinavian Journal of Nutrition 36, 125133.Google Scholar
Louis-Sylvestre, J, Tournier, A, Verger, P, Chabert, M, Delorme, B & Hossenlopp, J (1989) Learned caloric adjustment of human intake. Appetite 12, 95103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marlier, L, Schaal, B & Soussignan, R (1998) Neonatal responsiveness to the odor of amniotic and lacteal fluid: a test of perinatal chemosensory continuity. Child Development 69, 611623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mattes, RD (1991) Learned food aversions: a family study. Physiology and Behavior 50, 499504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mela, DJ (1995) Understanding fat preference and consumption: applications of behavioural sciences to a nutritional problem. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 54, 453464.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mela, DJ (1997) Fetal origins of food preferences? British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin 22, 159166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mela, DJ & Catt, SL (1996) Ontogeny of human taste and smell preferences and their implications for food selection. In Long Term Consequences of Early Environment: Growth, Development and the Lifespan Developmental Perspective. Society for the Study of Human Biology Symposium Series no. 37, pp. 139154 [Henry, CJK and Ulijaszek, SJ, editors]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mela, DJ & Rogers, PJ (1998) Food, Eating and Obesity: The Psychobiological Basis of Appetite and Weight Control. London: Chapman & Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mennella, JA (1995) Mother’s milk: a medium for early flavor experiences. Journal of Human Lactation 11, 3945.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mennella, JA (1997) A cross-cultural perspective. Nutrition Today 32, 144151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mennella, JA, Johnson, A & Beauchamp, GK (1995) Garlic ingestion by pregnant women alters the odor of amniotic fluid. Chemical Senses 20, 207210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oude Ophuis, PAM & van Trijp, HCM (1995) Perceived quality: a market driven and consumer oriented approach. Food Quality and Preference 6, 177183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, RE, Kristal, AR & White, E (1996) Do beliefs, knowledge, and perceived norms about diet and cancer predict dietary change? American Journal of Public Health 86, 13941400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pelchat, ML & Rozin, P (1982) The special role of nausea in the acquisition of food dislikes by humans. Appetite 3, 341351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pérez, C, Lucas, F & Sclafani, A (1995) Carbohydrate, fat, and protein condition similar flavor and preferences in rats using an oral-delay procedure. Physiology and Behavior 57, 549554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Piacentini, MG, Kirk, T, Prentice, RC & Tiurner, P (1995) Factors affecting low fruit and vegetable consumption in Scotland: A review of factors affecting fruit and vegetable consumption. Journal of Consumer Studies and Home Economics 19, 247260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pliner, P (1982) The effects of mere exposure on liking for edible substances. Appetite 3, 283290.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poppitt, SD & Prentice, AM (1996) Energy density and its role in the control of food intake: evidence from metabolic and community studies. Appetite 26, 153174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ray, JW & Klesges, RC (1993) Influences on the eating behavior of children. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 699, 5769.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ritson, C & Hutchins, R (1995 a) Food choice and the demand for food. In Food Choice and the Consumer, pp. 4376[Marshall, DW, editor]. London: Blackie.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritson, C & Hutchins, R (1995 b) Supply and food availability. In Food Choice and the Consumer, pp. 2142 [Marshall, DW, editor]. London: Blackie.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roest, H & Pieters, R (1997) The nomological net of perceived service quality. International Journal of Service Industry Management 8, 336351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogers, PJ (1995) Food, mood and appetite. Nutrition Research Reviews 8, 243269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rolls, BJ, Kim-Harris, S, Fischman, MW, Foltin, RW, Moran, TH & Stoner, SA (1994) Satiety after preloads with different amounts of fat and carbohydrate: Implications for obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 60, 476487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rozin, P (1990) Acquisition of stable food preferences. Nutrition Reviews 48, 106113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rozin, P & Fallon, AE (1981) The acquisition of likes and dislikes for foods. In Criteria of Food Acceptance: How Man Chooses What He Eats, pp. 3548 [Solms, J and Hall, RL, editors]. Zurich: Forster Verlag.Google Scholar
Rozin, P & Millman, L (1987) Family environment, not heredity, accounts for family resemblances in food preferences and attitudes: A twin study. Appetite 8, 125134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rozin, PN & Schulkin, J (1990) Food selection. In Handbook of Behavioral Neurobiology, pp. 297328[Stricker, EM, editor]. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Saxe, JG (1883) The Poetical Works of John Godfrey Saxe. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.Google Scholar
Schaal, B & Marlier, L (1998) Maternal and paternal perception of individual odor signatures in human amniotic fluid - potential role in early bonding? Biology of the Neonate 74, 266273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaal, B & Orgeur, P (1992) Olfaction in utero: can the rodent model be generalized? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 44B, 245278.Google Scholar
Schutz, HG (1994) Appropriateness as a measure of the cognitive-contextual aspects of food acceptance. In Measurement of Food Preferences, pp. 2550 [MacFie, HJH and Thomson, DMH, editors]. London: Blackie.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sclafani, A (1990) Nutritionally based learned flavor preferences in rats. In Taste, Experience, and Feeding, pp. 139156 [Capaldi, ED and Powley, TL, editors]. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sclafani, A (1997) Learned controls of ingestive behavior. Appetite 29, 153158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaffer, SE & Tepper, BJ (1994) Effects of learned flavour cues on single meal and daily food intake in humans. Physiology and Behavior 55, 979986.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shattuck, AL, White, E & Kristal, AR (1992) How women’s adopted low-fat diets affect their husbands. American Journal of Public Health 82, 12441250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shepherd, R & Sparks, P (1994) Modelling food choice. In Measurement of Food Preferences, pp. 202226 [MacFie, HJH and Thomson, DMH, editors]. London: Blackie.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shide, DJ & Rolls, BJ (1995) Information about the fat content of preloads influences energy intake in healthy women. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 95, 993998.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sigman-Grant, M (1997) Can you have your low-fat cake and eat it too? The role of fat-modified products. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 97, Suppl., S76S81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solheim, R (1992) Consumer liking for sausages affected by sensory quality and information on fat content. Appetite 19, 285292.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solheim, R & Lawless, T (1996) Consumer purchase probability affected by attitude towards low-fat foods, liking, private body consciousness and information on fat and price. Food Quality and Preference 7, 137143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soussignan, R, Schaal, B, Malier, L & Jiang, T (1997) Facial and autonomic responses to biological and artificial olfactory stimuli in human neonates: Re-examining early hedonic discrimination of odors. Physiology and Behavior 62, 745758.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, RJ & Nemeroff, CJ (1995) Moral overtones of foods: Judgments of others based on what they eat. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 21, 480490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockhorst, U, Klosterhalfen, S & Steingrüber, H-J (1998) Conditioned nausea and further side-effects in cancer therapy: A review. Journal of Psychophysiology 12, Suppl., 1433.Google Scholar
Stubenitsky, K, Aaron, JI, Catt, S & Meia, DJ (1997) The influence of nutritional and sensory descriptive information on measures of food selection and acceptance in a restaurant. Appetite 29, 265 Abstr.Google Scholar
Sullivan, SA & Birch, LL (1994) Infant dietary experience and acceptance of solid foods. Pediatrics 93, 271277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tuorila, H, Andersson, A, Martikainen, A & Salovaara, H (1998) Effect of product formula, information and consumer characteristics on the acceptance of a new snack food. Food Quality and Preference 9, 313320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuorila, H, Cardello, AV & Lesher, L (1994) Antecedents and consequences related to fat-free and regular-fat foods. Appetite 23, 247263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Trijp, JCM (1995) Variety Seeking in Product Choice Behavior. Theory with Applications in the Food Domain. PhD Thesis, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Varendi, H, Porter, RH & Winberg, J (1996) Attractiveness of amniotic fluid odor: evidence of prenatal olfactory learning? Acta Paediatrica 85, 12231227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varendi, H, Porter, RH & Winberg, J (1997) Natural odour preferences of newborn infants change over time. Acta Paediatrica 86, 985990.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warwick, ZS & Schiffman, SS (1991) Flavor-calorie relationships: Effect on weight gain in rats. Physiology and Behavior 50, 465470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westcombe, A & Wardle, J (1997) Influence of relative fat content information on responses to three foods. Appetite 28, 4962.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wooley, OW, Wooley, SC & Dunham, RB (1972) Can calories be perceived and do they affect hunger in obese and nonobese humans? Journal of Comparative Physiology and Psychology 80, 250258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ye, G & van Raaij, WF (1997) What inhibits the mere exposure effect: Recollection of familiarity? Journal of Economic Psychology 18, 629648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zajonc, RB (1968) Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 9, 127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zellner, DA, Rozin, P, Aron, M & Kulish, C (1983) Conditioned enhancement of human’s liking for flavors by pairing with sweetness. Learning and Motivation 14, 338350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar