The physiological-psychological dichotomy in the study of food intake

Abstract

Professor Marion M. Hetherington, fax +44 151 794 2945, email m.m.hetherington@liverpool.ac.uk Human food intake is driven by necessity. We eat to live, but as Brillat-Savarin and others have noted throughout history, in affluent societies eating is a pleasure and becomes more than a means to an end.Eating signifies lifestyle choice and it has considerable meaning in our society beyond the acquisition of essential energy and nutrients. Thus, it is that the study of human food intake, particularly food choice, in contrast to food intake in other animals, tends to be skewed towards measures of behavioural, social and environmental influences rather than on precise physiological processes reflecting metabolism and nutrient partitioning. The dichotomy between physiological and psychological measures is a false one, since all behaviours are necessarily expressed through physiological systems. However, in the field of human food intake research the dichotomy refers to the divergent strands of interest in either psychological or physiological processes underlying intake and appetite. The present review considers both psychological and physiological measures in promoting our understanding of the human appetite system. The overall conclusion is that the burgeoning interest in identifying appetite suppressant drugs to combat obesity and in genotyping alongside behavioural phenotyping will close the gap between psychological and physiological perspectives on human food intake.Appetite: Food preference: Pleasure: Meal size: Methodology

Finishing the family meal. The interactional organisation of satiety

“…Within psychological research on eating, there is a strong sense of hunger, satiety and appetite as being primarily physiological concepts (Friedman, Ulrich, & Mattes, 1999;Raben, Tagliabue, & Astrup, 1995), though attempts are being made to close the gap between physiological and psychological measures (Hetherington, 2002). Satiety, in this sense, is measurable and individualised.…”

Energy compensation in enterally fed children

“…Tube-feeding bypasses part of the upper gastrointestinal tract, so that long-term enterally fed children may lack innate somatic satiety cues. The child may also have missed a critical period of associative learning (Birch, 1998;Hetherington, 2002;Rolls, Engell, & Birch, 2000) and have disordered daily eating patterns (Poustie et al, 2006). Other studies have suggested that both the age at which tube feeding started (Mason et al, 2005) and when reduction in feeds began (Wright et al, 2010) may critically affect the ease of transition.…”

Does listening to the sound of yourself chewing increase your enjoyment of food?

“…In addition to the physiological processes, eating behaviours are influenced by many factors -behavioural, social and environmental [7]. As a result, there are different methodologies applied to study different aspects of eating behaviours.…”