The effects of selected social and environmental variables on the eating behavior of adults in the natural environment

Abstract

The current study investigated the effects of social setting, type of restaurant environment, relative weight, and sex on the number of calories consumed by adults. Subjects were observed in 14 different restaurants by trained observers. Results indicated that both males and females consumed more calories in fast‐food restaurants and that they ate more when in groups as compared to when they ate alone. Females ate less in larger as compared to smaller groups of people. Relative weight was not associated with the number of calories consumed. Implications of the results are discussed and possible treatment recommendations are outlined.

Bodies in Motion: The Sociology of Physical Activity

“…A fat woman is an object of derision, an embarrassing spectacle. Clearly, women are expected to rein in their appetites, to use dietary restraint (Klesges, Bartsch, Norwood, Kautzman, & Haugrud, 1984;Mooney, DeTore, & Malloy, 1994;Mort, Chaiken, & Pliner, 1987). But for men, seeking to satisfy their desires is expected .…”

The use of a wearable camera to capture and categorise the environmental and social context of self-identified eating episodes

“…In agreement with our data, they found that eating episodes with social interaction were significantly longer compared to eating alone (11.2 minutes versus 7.4), and episodes watching television were longer compared to episodes without television, but the difference was not statistically significant (8.8 minutes versus 7.8 minutes). These data support lab-based research that has indicated that meal duration (Wansink, 2004), social interaction (De Castro & Brewer, 1992;Klesges, Bartsch, Norwood, Kautzrnan, & Haugrud, 1984), and viewing screens are associated with increased EI (Marsh et al, 2013).…”

“…Additionally, raters can be trained before reanalysing the dataset, as we have shown the procedure to annotate the episodes for a category of interest can be easily tested for interreliability. This is in contrast to direct observation techniques where inter-rater reliability has only been established in a few studies (Klesges et al, 1984;Meyers & Stunkard, 1980;Sommer & Steele, 1997). However, noncompliance wearing the camera and technical failures resulted in 11% of data loss which must be considered.…”

The social facilitation of eating. A review

“…Klesges, Bartsch, Norwood, Kautzman, and Haugrud (1984) found that patrons at formal and fast-food restaurants ate more in groups than when eating alone. Contrary to the findings of de , Klesges et al (1984) found no difference in the amount eaten in large (n > 3) versus small (n = 2 or 3) groups. In a cafeteria setting, Young, Mizzau, Mai, Sirisegaram, and Wilson (2009), likewise found no significant effects of groups size on the amount of food selected, although there was a hint that for females, meal size increased as a function of the number of female dining companions and decreased as a function of the number of male dining companions; strikingly, eating with others did not increase meal size compared to eating alone.…”