Chapter 3:

Hunger and Eating

Prepared by
Yeo Yet Phing

FOOD SELECTION
The Biological Component
Taste

plays an important role in

selecting what we should eat.
We appear to be born with the
preference for sweet foods and fatty
foods.
Carbohydrates

tend to have a sweet taste

and meats tend to have a fatty taste (and
contain fat).
Following our taste preferences will ensure
that we eat carbohydrates, meat, and fat.

(For other parts, read main text

The Learned Component

The

eating preferences of different ethic

groups provide compelling evidence that
learning
plays an important role in diet.
To detect that a food is not providing
nutrition, the organism must get sick.
Learning

to avoid all those foods that

produce some type of aversive state.

Modeling

parents and developing

preferences eliminate the need to go
through a long trial-and-error learning
process.

The Cognitive Component

We

depend more and more on our ability to

think and reason (e.g., scientific research)
to tell us what we should or should not eat.
Although our evolutionary past has
provided us with some basic mechanisms
to help guide food selection, those
mechanisms have not kept pace with
current food production practices.
e.g.,

fast foods and junk foods taste good

(because they are sweet, fatty, or salty), but
many of them do not provide basic nutrients.
(For other parts, read main text

THE QUESTIONS OF
OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY
The Biological Component
The Genetic Factor
Research

Adopted

shown:

children tend to resemble their

biological parents in weight far more than
they resemble their adoptive parents.
Identical twins, even when reared apart, are
closer in weight than are fraternal twins or
other siblings.
Moderate heritability for binge eating.

The Biological Component (cont 2)

Energy Expenditure
The

three components:

Basal

metabolic rate (BMR): The

number of energy we use in a given period
in relation to our body size.
Physical activity
Specific dynamic action (SDA): The
increase in energy expenditure following the
digestion of food.
It can increase the BMR by as much as 20%
for a few hours after a meal.
Certain foods (e.g., proteins) produce the
greatest increase.

The Biological Component (cont 3)

Obesity and Anorexia as Malfunctions

of the Hypothalamus
Two

areas of hypothalamus have been

linked to eating behavior:
Lesions

of
ventromedial nuclei
(VMN) overeating
obesity
Lesions of lateral
hypothalamus (LH)
anorexia

Set-point Theory
Set-point

theory of weight level (Keesey & Powley,

1975): The hypothalamus sets our weight.
Hig
h

Body
weigh
t

Low

Damage to
Ventromedial
hypothalamus
(High Set Point)
Intact
hypothalamus
(Normal Set
Point)
Damage
to Lateral
hypothalamus
(Low Set Point)

Overeatin
g
Norma
l
eating
Reduc
ed
eating

Positive-Incentive Theory
Problems

in set-point theory.
From an evolutionary perspective:
to eat more than one needs
genetic adaptation to protect humans and
animals that did not have a predictable
food supply.
Tendency to eat sweet and fatty food
highly adaptive (such foods tend to have
higher caloric value) production of fat.
Tendency

Positive-Incentive Theory (cont 3)

Central

idea of positive-incentive
theory:
Eating stops in the presence of palatable
food when the positive-incentive values
decrease.
Decline

in the positive-incentive value of all

food after eating a meal.
Decline in incentive value of specific foods if
that food is eaten in large quantities.
Evolutionary

perspective:

in incentive of a specific food

increase likelihood to eat a more varied
balance diet.

Decline

The Learned Component

Mother

largely controls the eating behavior

of her children or simply availability of food.
own tendency to overeat fill her
childrens plate with more food then they
require or simply make food available.

Her

Fat

mother like to prepare appealing foods

associate eating with certain cues such
cues (e.g., taste, texture, smell) tend to
elicit eating response.
Mother tries to comfort her children with
food when they are upset children learn
to eat under these conditions later in life,
such people turn to food for comfort.

The Cognitive Component

Do

we eat more then we are

depressed, anxious, or stressed?
Depression

is characterized by weight loss rather than

overeating.
BUT!

For those who high in self-restraint, they eat

significantly more than those who are low in selfrestraint when both groups of them are similarly
depressed.
Those

with more self-control lose their ability or

desire to exercise control when they become
depressed eat more.

Conclusion:

Depression results in an overall

reduction in motivation, including the motivation
to eat or self-control in eating (for those who
originally high in self-control).
(For Summary, read main text

THEORIES OF OVERWEIGHT
AND OBESITY (Summary)
The Internal-External Theory
of Hunger and Eating
Internal-external

theory showed

that:
Nonobese

people tend to eat in response

to internal cues (e.g., stomach motility,
low blood glucose)
Obese people eat in response to external
cues (e.g., time of day, palatability of food,
etc.).

The Internal-External Theory of Hunger and Eating

(cont 2)
Externally responsive people showed

the greatest insulin response to the

sight, smell, and sound of grilling steak,
as well as palatability of food.
Can

explain why externals tend to eat

more obese.

Field

studies have shown that, indeed,

insulin does seem to govern food
intake.

The Boundary Theory

of Hunger, Eating, and Obesity

= Unrestrained
eaters

= Restrained
eaters

(For Summary,
read main text p.

DIFFICULTIES
CONFRONTING DIETERS
The Biological Component
According

to the famine hypothesis, humans

have developed several mechanisms to ensure
survival when food supply is unreliable:
Deal

with the lack of food: Anabolism / caloric thrift

(i.e., deceleration of metabolism).
Store food when it is available.
Prevent the buildup of excessive amount of fat:
Catabolism / caloric waste (i.e., acceleration of
metabolism).
These

mechanism might have been adaptive

when food was scarce, but the haunt the
overweight person who decides to diet.

The Learned Component

The Cultural Ideal
The

lean ideal is promoted by a vast

diet industry that supplies diet books,
programs, videos, foods, pills, and
devices.

The Learned Component (cont 2)

Behavioral Modification and Weight Control

Some

rules for dieting:

Eat in only one place and at regular times

2. Use small plates
3. Eat slowly
4. Eat in the company of others
5. If you eat alone, dont read or watch
television
6. Limit the availability of fattening foods
7. Allows for variety
8. Dont try to lose weight too quickly
9. Eat a balanced diet
10. Combine your diet with exercise
1.

The Cognitive Component

Failure

to self-regulate overweight.

When

our attention diverted away from

controlling food intake in the presence of
palatable foods (e.g., watching television)
susceptible to the incentive value of the food
itself overeat.
Self-monitoring (i.e., systematic observation
and recording of target behaviors, e.g.,
caloric and fat intake) is the most effective
way of combating overweight.
Personality

factor:

Self-determined

(having a sense of
autonomy) gives people an edge.

(For other parts, read main text