Eating Behavior And Obesity

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Obesity is one of the most pressing health issues affecting our country. This unique volume is the first to apply behavioral economicsóthe integration of psychological and economic knowledgeóto the study of eating behavior. The text demonstrates how this discipline can be used to understand why it so difficult for individuals to control their eating habits, and helps readers use this knowledge to create and improve public health nutrition programs and policies. The text examines dietary choices and obesity through a multidisciplinary lens of biological, psychological, and social factors, and draws from the disciplines of behavioral economics, nutrition, public health, and health promotion. Based on the premise that humans are hardwired to make judgment errors and need a ìnudgeî to make decisions in their best interests, the book argues that increasing consumer well-being requires changing an individualís personal environment. It describes the power of irrational forces that compete with sensible judgment in regard to food choices, and provides strategies for improving decisions and health habits. Highly accessible, the text will be of interest to students, professors, and practitioners in nutrition-related health programs, as well as to public health policy makers. Key Features: Assesses the social determinants that affect nutrition choices, including food availability, nutrition education, income, culture, and other key factors Demonstrates how flawed decisions and self-control difficulties can affect eating behavior Provides a valuable framework for improving public health through understanding and changing the way individuals make food decisions Explains the link between obesity rates and economics of food choice (fast food, food marketing, and social factors) Provides strategies and tools to help people improve their decision-making and health habits

Over the years, approaches to obesity prevention and treatment have gone from focusing on genetic and other biological factors to exploring a diversity of diets and individual behavior modification interventions anchored primarily in the power of the mind, to the recent shift focusing on societal interventions to design "temptation-proof" physical, social, and economic environments. In spite of repeated calls to action, including those of the World Health Organization (WHO), the pandemic continues to progress. WHO recently projected that if the current lifestyle trend in young and adult populations around the world persist, by 2012 in countries like the USA, health care costs may amount to as much as 17.7% of the GDP. Most importantly, in large part due to the problems of obesity, those children may be the first generation ever to have a shorter life expectancy than that of their parents. Obesity Prevention presents the most current research and proposals for addressing the pandemic. Past studies have focused primarly on either genetic or behavioral causes for obesity, however today's research indicates that a strongly integrated program is the best prospect for success in overcoming obesity. Furthermore, focus on the role of society in establishing an affordable, accessible and sustainable program for implementing these lifestyle changes is vital, particularly for those in economically challenged situations, who are ultimately at the highest risk for obesity. Using studies from both neuroscience and behavioral science to present a comprehensive overview of the challenges and possible solutions, The brain-to-society approach to obesity prevention focuses on what is needed in order to sustain a healthy, pleasurable and affordable lifestyle. Explores the "brain-to-society" approach to obesity prevention, focusing on an integrative approach to addressing the obesity pandemic Presents both the nueroscientific and the behavioral factors that impact eating habits Identifies the challenges and suggests solutions for altering attitudes toward food on both an individual and a societal level

We are not born knowing what to eat; as omnivores it is something we each have to figure out for ourselves. From childhood onward, we learn how big a "portion" is and how sweet is too sweet. We learn to enjoy green vegetables -- or not. But how does this education happen? What are the origins of taste? In First Bite, award-winning food writer Bee Wilson draws on the latest research from food psychologists, neuroscientists, and nutritionists to reveal that our food habits are shaped by a whole host of factors: family and culture, memory and gender, hunger and love. Taking the reader on a journey across the globe, Wilson introduces us to people who can only eat foods of a certain color; prisoners of war whose deepest yearning is for Mom's apple pie; a nine year old anosmia sufferer who has no memory of the flavor of her mother's cooking; toddlers who will eat nothing but hotdogs and grilled cheese sandwiches; and researchers and doctors who have pioneered new and effective ways to persuade children to try new vegetables. Wilson examines why the Japanese eat so healthily, whereas the vast majority of teenage boys in Kuwait have a weight problem -- and what these facts can tell Americans about how to eat better. The way we learn to eat holds the key to why food has gone so disastrously wrong for so many people. But Wilson also shows that both adults and children have immense potential for learning new, healthy eating habits. An exploration of the extraordinary and surprising origins of our tastes and eating habits, First Bite also shows us how we can change our palates to lead healthier, happier lives.

Although the exact prevalence of overweight and obesity are dependent upon the definition used, these conditions are generally accepted to be widespread and increasing problems by health authorities and the public in most western nations. The proportion of the UK and US populations which are overweight or obese, by any measure, has substantially risen over the past decade, and similar increases have been observed in other western nations as well as rapidly modernizing societies (Hodge et a/. , 1996). The physiological, psychological, and social! environmental fac tors which may be implicated in the aetiology, maintenance, and treat ment of these conditions have been the subject of an extraordinary volume of human and animal research, scientific conferences, and techni cal and popular literature. This book focuses specifically on the role of food and eating in overeat ing and obesity, emphasizing the relationships between people and food which may give rise to positive energy balance, and the potential contri butions of specific components, foods, or groups of foods. The intent is to integrate the psychobiological and cognitive psychological aspects of appetite, food preferences, and food selection with physiological and metabolic outcomes of eating behaviours. The ingestion of a particular quality and quantity of food is a voluntary behaviour, and that act, its determinants, features and sequelae are explored here, considering wider academic thought but guided by potential practical implications.

Eating Disorders have traditionally been considered apart from public health concerns about increasing obesity. It is evident that these problems are, however, related in important ways. Comorbid obesity and eating disorder is increasing at a faster rate than either obesity or eating disorders alone and one in five people with obesity also presents with an Eating Disorder, commonly but not limited to Binge Eating Disorder. New disorders have emerged such as normal weight or Atypical Anorexia Nervosa. However research and practice too often occurs in parallel with a failure to understand the weight disorder spectrum and consequences of co-morbidity that then contributes to poorer outcomes for people living with a larger size and an Eating Disorder. Urgently needed are trials that will inform more effective assessment, treatment and care where body size and eating disorder symptoms are both key to the research question.