Eating Behaviours Revision

Hormonal and Neural – Control of Eating Behaviour

Hormonal Factors

Leptin
 A protein produced by fat tissue that travels around the body via the bloodstream and into
the brain
 Causes fat loss and a decrease in appetite
 Does so by:
 Counteracts neuropeptide Y
 Activates the SNS which in turn stimulates fat cells to burn energy

Ghrelin
 Released into the stomach
 Stimulates appetite
 At its highest it causes us to eat
 Drops to its lowest about three hours after eating a meal

AO3

Support for Leptin

 Some mice have two copies of obesity gene
 These mice have tendency to overeat foods high in fat and sugar
 Also have defective genes for leptin
 Injecting these mice with leptin causes them to dramatically lose weight

Support for Ghrelin

 Cardwell (2016) – rats were injected with ghrelin and they began to eat more

Criticism of theory

Fails to consider other influential factors

 Doesn’t look at how we our food preference can be influenced by the environment
 Lowe – children with a history of food refusal observed ‘food dudes’ (older children) eating
foods they would not eat
 Results showed that exposure to the food dudes significantly changed the children’s food
preferences and also their consumption of fruit and veg

Neural Factors

Main Principles
 These are the actual parts of the brain/chemicals that drive our eating behaviour
 Focuses on the idea of homeostasis – keeping things optimal and having stable equilibrium

Hypothalamus
  Lateral Hypothalamus – tells us when we are hungry
 Ventromedial Hypothalamus – tells us when we are full
 Paraventricular Nucleus – also involved in telling us we are full, but also causes cravings by
telling us what type of food we need
 Takes 20 minutes for our brain to let us know we are full
 Therefore, people who eat quickly could be overeating, causing weight gain

Neurotransmitters
 Neuropeptide Y – this is found in the paraventricular nucleus and causes an increase in food
intake as well as a want for carbs
 Cholecystokinin – this is found in the bloodstream when we are eating – it is suggested that
this reduces appetite and suppresses weight gain

Support

Lateral hypothalamus - Rats

 Damage to lateral hypothalamus in rats caused absence of eating
 Stimulation of LH elicits feeding behaviour – considered to be the on switch for eating

Neurotransmitters - Rats
 When neuropeptide Y was injected into the hypothalamus of rats, it caused them to begin
feeding even when satiated
 Repeated injections caused obesity
 Supports that NPY causes an increase in food intake

Explanations for Food Preferences

Social Factors

Social Learning
 Children model their eating behaviour on their parents – imitation of their role model
 If a parent shows a dislike for a food the child is also likely not to eat it
 It is because the child wants to be like their role model

Association and Reward

 Association = classical conditioning  can be rapid in relation to food (rapid conditioning)
 Experiences:
 Positive experience with food – likely to want to eat it again = show preference for it
 Negative experience with food – likely to associate that food with the negative experience,
meaning we will not want to eat it again
 Treat foods:
 Parents use treat foods to get children to eat their dinner – particularly vegetables
 Increases the status of the treat food – makes it more desirable as we can’t just have it –
causes the treat food to be seen as a reward
 Makes the food on the plat less attractive as you are forced to eat it = negative experience

Overt and covert control

  Overt – when parents openly tell their child ‘no’ about having a chocolate bar etc. Increases
the status of treat food – makes them want it
 Covert – when parents say ‘we don’t have any’ rather than ‘no’ – doesn’t have the impact
that overt has

AO3

Support for SLT – study by Lowe

 Children with a history of food refusal observed ‘food dudes’ (older children) eating foods
they would not eat
 Results showed that exposure to the food dudes significantly changed the children’s food
preferences and also their consumption of fruit and veg

Support for reward – study by Lepper

 Children told a story where a mother offered a child two made up foods – hupe and hule
 Some of the children were told a version where the child was only allowed to eat hupe if
they ate hule first (and vice versa)
 Other children told a version where both foods were openly offered
 Children then asked which food they would rather eat
 Was found the children who were told one of the foods acted as a reward preferred the
reward food
 Other children had no preference

Cultural Factors

 Impact food preferences as the attitudes and traditions from different cultures are passed
down from one generation to the next
 Each culture has its own attitudes regarding food
 E.g. – UK’s general population largely eats meat, fish, vegetables and fruits
 Whereas some groups such as Jews forbid the consumption of pork
 Culture impacts preference

AO3

Support – study by Leshem

 Studied Arab women and Jewish women
 Was found that the Arab women had a much higher energy intake, especially from carbs
and protein and ate a lot more salt

Support – study by Wardle

 Surveyed diets of 16000 young adults across 21 European countries
 Found that those living in Italy and Spain ate the most fruit
 Those in England eat the least
 Those in Poland have the highest salt intake
 Those in Sweden have the lowest

Criticism for both social and cultural

Fails to consider role of mood – study by Garg
 Mood can change whether we have a temporary preference for a certain type of food
 Garg – participants either watched a happy or sad film and were offered grapes and popcorn
 Those watching the sad film ate 36% more popcorn than those watching the happy film
 Those watching the happy film ate considerably more grapes

Fails to consider evolutionary factors – taste aversion

 If we try something bitter, we are likely to spit it out
 This is because our ancestors did this to avoid poisoning
 Can be evidenced through how babies will spit out lemons from a young age due to their
bitter taste
 Shows we are born with a dislike for certain foods

Evolutionary Factors

 Because all behaviour displayed today is suggested to be for survival, food we eat today
must once have helped us to survive
 We show preferences and dislikes because of this

Neophobia
 Where a person is fearful of something new
 In relation to food, people do not want to eat something if they don’t know what it is
 Was beneficial for survival as new food may be poisonous and potentially kill us

Hunter Gatherer’s Diet

Foods we ate then so like today

 1 - Meat:
 Suggested to have a preference for meat as it is high in calories = energy
 High in protein = builds muscle
 Good for brain development
 2 - High salt content
 Encourages us to eat meat as it has a high salt content
 Salt is also good for cell functioning – therefore beneficial for survival
 3 – Berries
 Means today we have a preference for sweet foods
 Berries were sweet which suggested carbs and calories
 Easy to access when in danger and running away for a quick energy boost

Foods we don’t like today because of then

 Avoid certain foods/taste aversion:
 If we try something and it is bitter, we will spit it out  done to avoid poisoning’
 Vegetables:
 Dislike these as they are not beneficial for survival – hard to get hold of and low in calories

Hunter Gatherer AO3

Meat
 Positive: all cultures show that they enjoy meat – different meats preferred around the
world = universal trait
 Negative: vegetarians? This theory does not explain them – says we need meat for survival,
so essentially they shouldn’t exist

High salt content

 Positive: today we enjoy take away food, which is high in salt content

Berries
 Positive: today we have chocolate, sweets etc. – all manufactured because humans enjoy
sweet foods
 Negative: however, we are rewarded with sweet foods, making us want it – hupe and hule
study. We like it not because it’s evolutionary, but because it’s used as a reward

Taste aversion
 Babies and lemons – they will automatically spit them out = born with a dislike for bitter
foods

Vegetables
 Positive: children show dislike for vegetables from a young age
 Negative: hupe and hule – dislike the foods that they are forced to eat to gain a reward

AO3

Support for evolved preference for calorie rich food – study by Gibson and Wardle
 Showed that the best way to predict which fruit and veg children would prefer was not by
how sweet they were, or how much protein, or even by how familiar
 Best way = how dense they were in calories
 Bananas and potatoes and calorie rich, and were more likely to be chosen by the children

Criticism - fails to consider role of mood – study by Garg

 Mood can change whether we have a temporary preference for a certain type of food
 Garg – participants either watched a happy or sad film and were offered grapes and popcorn
 Those watching the sad film ate 36% more popcorn than those watching the happy film
 Those watching the happy film ate considerably more grapes

Success and Failure of Diets

Failure

1 - Restrained Eating
 Diets restrict calorie intake with the goal of the person losing weight
 Restricting: actual amount of food (focus on calories) and type of food – cut out all
chocolate
Impact
  Denial – when we deny certain food, we actually increase the amount we think about it 
because of this, we are more likely to eat it  leads to possible over eating = FAILURE OF
DIET
 Behavioural disinhibition – ‘sod it’ – when we eat food that is banned, we feel we have
blown the diet and then eat whatever we want for the rest of the day  over eat = FAILURE
OF DIET

2 - Boundary Model
 A normal eater feels hungry more often than a dieter, but also feels full quicker. Dieters do
not feel hungry anywhere near as often as a normal eater, HOWEVER, it takes them much
longer to feel full – so when they do eat, they will eat far more than a normal eater
 If they set themselves a calorie limit and go over this, it will lead to a behavioural
disinhibition – ‘sod it’ – may as well start again tomorrow = overeating = FAILURE OF DIET

Success

1 – Detail
 People who are successful with their diets are likely to view their food in parts rather than
as a whole
 E.g. – rather than seeing it that they have salad, they have chicken, tomato avocado etc.

2 – Key Events
 These help to motivate us, also give us a deadline – summer, wedding etc.

3 – Attractiveness
 The less attractive you feel, the more likely you are to be successful

4 – Support Networks
 Weight watchers etc.
 Give structure, someone to talk to, and general guidance
 Help to promote weight loss

Support

Failure - Denial – White Bear

 Showed p’s a picture of a white bear and asked p’s to either think about it or not to think
about it
 If they did they were asked to ring a bell
 It was found that those who were asked not to think about the bear rang their bells more
frequently than the other group
 Supports denial as it shows when we try not to think about something, we think about it
more

Success – Detail – Jelly Beans

 Studied 135 p’s and gave them 22 jelly beans each
 As they were given each jelly bean information was presented onto a screen
 In one condition general info was presented, such as ‘bean number 1’
  In the other they saw ‘bean number 1 – apple flavour’
 It was found people got bored of eating the jelly beans quicker when they were in the
general condition
 Evidences that detail keeps attention to food

Failure – Boundary/Behavioural disinhibitions - Preload

 Studied dieters vs non dieters by giving them a preload and then a taste test
 P’s were either given a high or low calorie preload
 It was found non dieters simply ate less during the taste test whereas in the diet group,
those given the high calorie preload ate significantly more than any other group
 Evidences boundary as once you start eating you want more

Criticisms

Failure of diets - Doesn’t consider biological factors

 LPL – lipoprotein lipase – this helps to turn calories into energy reserves
 9 obese women who lost 90lbs on average – after their diets, when they began eating
normally their LPL levels rose, increasing their fat reserves/stores and their weight
 The suggestion is that the reason some diets fail is because of increased LPL, not simply a
lack of will power

Biological Explanations for Anorexia

Genetic

 The suggestion that we inherit anorexia from our parents/ancestors

 This inheritance is evidenced via twin, family and adoption studies

Evolutionary Explanations

 Stems from genetic explanations as the suggestion is that we have inherited a beneficial
characteristic from our ancestors as it would have at one time aided their survival

Reproductive Suppression Hypothesis

 Our ancestors would limit their weight so they did not reach sexual maturity at a time when
conditions were not beneficial to offspring
 Women would ensure they were below the critical weight of 7.5 stone and so their periods
would stop  unable to conceive offspring
 Done when resources were scarce
 Anorexia is a continuation of this once beneficial behaviour – can be seen as an evolved
behaviour – although one which is not adaptive to survival

Support for evolution

Bell – Holy Anorexia

 Coined the term ‘holy anorexia’
  Women in the middle ages would starve themselves as they believed it would unite them
with the image of Christ on the cross
 85 thin saints were recognised due to their ability to live with very little food
Demonstrates that anorexia is not a new disorder – could be genetically passed down

Support for genetics

Wade – twin studies

 Interviewed 2000 female MZ and DZ twins and found a 58% heritability rate for anorexia
 Proves it has genetic factors

Klump – adopted siblings

 Studied 123 adopted siblings and found genetic contribution towards AN is between 59-82%
 This was done by studying biological siblings raised in different homes and non-biological
siblings raised in the same home

Neural

Serotonin
 It is suggested that people with anorexia have higher levels of serotonin
 Higher levels of serotonin = increased anxiety
 Increased anxiety is often associated with a reduction in eating
 Idea is that more stress = more weight loss = anorexics are in a permanent state of weight
loss

Dopamine
 Suggested that anorexics have higher levels of dopamine in the brain (particularly the basal
ganglia)
 Therefore, the usual pleasure/reward associated with eating is not felt by those with this
condition as they already have increased levels with this transmitter
 Eating is not rewarding for anorexics

Hypothalamus
 The ventromedial part of the hypothalamus is suggested to be stuck to an ‘on’ position,
causing suppression of appetite
 Or, Lateral Hypothalamus fails to switch on, meaning the person has no drive to eat

Season of Birth
 People born in the spring may be more likely to develop anorexia – this is due to
cold/viruses impacting the brain during development during pregnancy

Support for neural

Kaye – higher dopamine

 Compared brain activity of women with AN and women without AN using PET scans
 Found over activity of dopamine in the basal ganglia
 Also have a higher level of homovanillic (waste product of dopamine)
Rats
 Damage to LH caused an absence of eating

Criticism of neural

Bailer – serotonin not the cause

 Found that those recovering from AN had a significant increase in their levels of serotonin
 Shows that high serotonin isn’t the cause of AN

Evaluation of entire bio theory

Positives

Scientific
 Brain scans, blood tests, quantitative data, lab based research
 Can determine cause and effect

Negatives

Reductionist
 Simplifies AN to one gene or one neurotransmitter
 Fails to consider media and role models, family and irrational thinking
 Fijian girls study

Drug therapy doesn’t work

 Drug therapy doesn’t treat AN, showing AN cannot be purely biological and that
psychological factors have some part to play

Psychological Explanations for Anorexia

Family Systems

 We need to look at people as a collective whole, rather than simply looking at one
individual in order to understand a person’s behaviour
 Minuchin proposed the psychosomatic family model, which suggests that a dysfunctional
family and physiological vulnerability = anorexia

Characteristics of a dysfunctional family

1. Enmeshment:
a. Close proximity and intensity in family interaction causing over involvement, lack of
boundaries and stifling of child – prevents child from having skills to deal with
common social stressors. Increased stress and lack of coping skills could trigger
anorexia
2. Autonomy:
 a. Enmeshment prevents independence and autonomy. Family still controls child as
they grow into a young adult. Child does not develop strategies for coping
independently
3. Control:
a. Parents are overprotective and control child. Above expected level of concern.
Individual believes they aren’t in control of their lives and have no influence over it
as their parents have always taken control. Become rebellious and control eating –
only thing able to control
4. Rigidity:
a. Family is unable to adapt, so in face of change become rigid. This is then mirrored in
anorexia, as other aspects of their life become uncontrollable they become more
focused on controlling their eating
5. Conflict Resolution:
a. Family doesn’t resolve conflict, or avoids it, increasing anxiety around the house

Lack of coping skills, trying to gain autonomy, rebelling and lack of flexibility = anorexia

Support for theory

Mandi
 Found that family cohesion had positive outcomes for a child, whereas enmeshment did not

Criticisms

Blames the family

 Makes parents feel guilty and as though it could have been prevented – could have done
something different
 Family is also vital to recovery – if they feel they are to blame, they may feel they are unable
to support their child

Social Learning Theory

 We imitate our role models – media has a large impact on anorexia as it promotes the
image of thin being beautiful
 They see this and desire to be thin – want to be like their role models

Types of role model

1. Parents
a. If a parent has an eating disorder, the child is at a higher risk of developing it – not
just because of genetics, but because the child imitates eating behaviours it sees on
a daily basis. Most common with mothers and daughters
2. Peers
a. Person may have been bullied for being overweight and therefore lose weight to try
and avoid bullying. Children will imitate popular peers and if they are thin, may see
being thin as the route to being popular
3. Celebrities
 a. Weight is commonly focused on – we look up to people in the media, and if they are
congratulated for being thin we will want to be like them

Factors that increase imitation

1. Identification
a. The closer we feel psychologically to that person or in our image, the more likely we
are to imitate their behaviour
2. Vicarious reinforcement
a. If we see a role model being praised for losing weight, we are likely to imitate them
as we want the same reward. Many magazines make positive comments about
people being slim and negative comments about those who have put on weight –
reinforcing ‘thin is beautiful’ culture

Support for theory

Becker
 63 Fijian girls were asked to complete a questionnaire on eating habits as the TV was being
introduced
 3 years later, they were questioned about it again and it was found:
 Before TV, 3% classified as anorexic
 After TV: 15% classified as anorexic

Real life application

 Due to the influence of women models on teenage girls’ weight, the French modelling
community has introduced BMI certificates – shows that the theory has been recognised as
correct – models do influence eating

Criticisms

Males?
 Does not explain AN in males, and the amount of males with the disorder is rising
 Male ideal image is muscular, therefore according to this theory males should have no
reason to want to be thin and thus develop anorexia

Cognitive Theory

The result of faulty or maladaptive thought processes about the self, the body and food/eating is:
 Misperceiving the body as overweight when it is actually underweight
 Basing feelings of self worth on physical appearance
 Basing sense of self on how they can control their eating/ ED symptoms
 Irrational thinking/mistaken beliefs about food/fat/dieting

Common cognitive errors

All or nothing thinking

 “I ate one biscuit…that’s blown everything”
Overgeneralising
 “If I fail at controlling eating I fail at life”

Magnifying/minimising
 “My weight loss isn’t serious”

Magical thinking
 “If I reach size 8 then my life will be perfect”

Distortions
 These are errors in thinking which cause the development of a negative body image
 It can cause comparisons to others and may lead to misperceptions of them being
overweight

Irrational Beliefs
 These are unrealistic beliefs that are not based on facts
 For example – they must be thin for people to like them

Cognitive Behavioural Theory (Garner and Bemis)

Anorexic patients tend to have similar characteristics

 High achievers and perfectionists
 Introverted
 Self doubt

1. It is suggested that exposure to cultural ideals of thinness causes these individuals to

develop views and beliefs regarding the importance of body weight and shape
2. The person will then develop irrational beliefs such as ‘losing weight will make me more
attractive and happier’
3. When they lose weight they will feel self achievement and receive positive comments
4. Over focus and importance on being thin increases their anxiety about eating = fear of food
and weight gain
5. Leads to them avoiding food as much as possible
6. They become socially isolated as this reduced the chance of them seeing their behaviour as
abnormal, reinforcing their beliefs further = anorexia

Support for theory

McKenzie – irrational thinking

 Found ED patients overestimated their size in relation to other women
 Judged their ideal weight to be lower than comparable ED patients
 Judged their size to have increased after a sugary snack (controls did not)
 Supports irrational thinking

CBT is effective
 CBT treats AN – the focus is on restructuring thinking and removing distortions such as body
dysmorphia
  If distorted thoughts did not impact AN then this wouldn’t work, but it does, showing the
cognitive theory is correct

Criticisms of entire psychological explanations

Fails to consider bio factors

 Kaye found higher dopamine in the brains of AN women compared to non AN women
 High dopamine removes the rewarding feeling from eating
 Incomplete theory

Not scientific
 Research is based on subjective opinion – qualitative data

Biological Explanations for Obesity

Genetic

 The suggestion is that obesity may be genetic – inherited from parents

 Twin and adoption studies look for a genetic link with the disorder

Evolution

Thrifty Gene (Neel)

 The suggestion is that our ancestors would have needed to gorge on food when it was
available to ensure that they had enough fat supplies for when food was in short supply
 This would have aided survival

Support for genetic

Maes et al – twin study meta analysis

 Heritability estimates for BMI of 74% in MZ twins, 32% in DZ twins
 MZ twins even have a more similar BMI when raised apart in comparison to DZ raised
together
 Biology overrides environmental factors

Criticism of genetic

Rise in obesity/gene pool

 Increase in obesity in UK over the last 20 years
 1993 – 13% of males were obese
 2013 – 26%
 Yet the nature of the gene pool has remained constant
 An explanation on genes alone cannot explain this – must be due to other factors

Speakman
  If the evolution explanation was correct, then the majority of people should be obese – this
is not the case
 More than half the worlds 671 million obese people live in 10 countries – can be explained
through cultural factors

Neural

1 - Hypothalamus
 The Arcuate Nucleus which is located in the hypothalamus monitors blood sugar levels and
acts when sugar levels become low  makes us eat
 The suggestion is that this malfunctions and remains ‘on’, causing the person to keep eating
= weight gain and obesity

2 – Leptin
 Leptin is a hormone that tells us we are full
 It is suggested that someone with obesity may not produce enough leptin, or their receptors
may not pick it up
 The person may have become leptin resistant

3 – Dopamine and D2 Receptors

 The person may have less dopamine receptors in the brain
 In order to feel the release of pleasure from eating, the person needs more food (eating
produces dopamine)
 Results in overeating = obesity

Support for theory

Satch - rats
 Researched the arcuate nucleus within the hypothalamus of rats and found that
malfunction to this area increased their weight and eventually caused them to become
obese
 This highlights that the hypothalamus may have some relation to obesity

Montague
 Found that two Pakistani cousins who were living in the UK were obese and had low levels
of leptin
 Supports hat not enough leptin = obesity

Criticisms of entire bio explanations

Fail to consider psychological explanations

 Boundary model – can happen day after day
 Studied dieters vs non dieters by giving them a preload and then a taste test
 P’s were either given a high or low calorie preload
 Was found that non dieters simply ate less during the taste test, whereas in the diet group,
those given the high calorie preload ate more than any other group
 Boundary – once you start eating you want more, causing overeating and obesity
 Psychological Explanations for Obesity

Restraint Theory

 Diets restrict calorie intake with the goal of the person losing weight
 Restricting: actual amount of food (focus on calories) and type of food – cut out all
chocolate
Impact
 Denial – when we deny certain food, we actually increase the amount we think about it 
because of this, we are more likely to eat it  leads to possible over eating
 Behavioural disinhibition – ‘sod it’ – when we eat food that is banned, we feel we have
blown the diet and then eat whatever we want for the rest of the day  over eat

 Being too rigid with eating increases the chance of weight gain
 This is because some people will amend their calorie intake after a binge of unhealthy food,
resulting in weight gain
 If this continues, it will = obesity

Disinhibitions

 Habitual – circumstances in daily life can cause disinhibitions – relates to obesity the most
as it occurs on a daily basis which means you are overeating almost every day = weight gain
 Emotional – emotional states such as being upset can result in disinhibitions as well as
anxiety or depression
 Situational – some people overeat in relation to specific environmental cues, such as
weddings etc.

Boundary Model

 A normal eater feels hungry more often than a dieter, but also feels full quicker. Dieters do
not feel hungry anywhere near as often as a normal eater, HOWEVER, it takes them much
longer to feel full – so when they do eat, they will eat far more than a normal eater
 If they set themselves a calorie limit and go over this, it will lead to a behavioural
disinhibition – ‘sod it’ – may as well start again tomorrow = overeating

 This increases the risk of obesity – many people don’t have the needed will power and once
the boundary is broken will then overeat
 In some cases, this will happen day after day

Support

Wardle and Beales – restrained vs non

 Randomly assigned 27 obese women to either a restrained eating diet group or a non
restrained diet group for seven weeks
  At week 4, food intake and appetite were assessed when the women were given a preload
of a small snack
 Week 6 – placed under stressful conditions
 In both cases it was found that those on the restrained diet plan ate more than those who
were not
 Shows that restrained eating and disinhibitions can lead to overeating and eventually
obesity

Herman and Mack - boundary

 Studied dieters vs non dieters by giving them a preload and then a taste test
 P’s were either given a high or low calorie preload
 Was found that non dieters simply ate less during the taste test, whereas in the diet group,
those given the high calorie preload ate more than any other group
 Boundary – once you start eating you want more, causing overeating and obesity

Criticisms

Fails to considers bio factors

 Not enough leptin = obesity
 Montague found that two Pakistani cousins who were living in the UK were obese and had
low levels of leptin
 Supports hat not enough leptin = obesity
 Incomplete theory

Psychological explanations are weak

 Limited research and failure of diet theories have simply been amended to explain obesity
 Overeating from restrained eating/boundaries is unlikely to cause high weight gain – not
enough to cause obesity
 Highlights that psychological explanations are not thought through clearly – explain poor
dieting rather than obesity