A sense of belonging to a group within which you eat could lead to better food choices. Sounds a little New-Agey. But a new study says social conditions can have a significant impact on the way we look at food..
Birds of a feather eat together: Students chowing down on their number 1 food pick…
What they did
Researchers at Flinders University in Australia wanted to know more about how one’s social situation impacts their eating habits.
An abstract of the study report relates: “The new study tested the idea that people are more likely to adopt healthy food choices if they feel like they belong to the same group or community as those who are promoting healthy eating habits.”
Subjects were drawn from Facebook communities composed of university undergraduate students. They were asked to fill out a survey about their social and dietary habits.
What they found
“Social groups, such as one’s nationality or university, provide group members with a shared social identity, or a sense of belonging, and can influence their behaviour,” says Professor Eva Kemps, from the Flinders U. College of Education, Psychology and Social Work. And that goes for all types of behaviour. And the influenve can go either way. Kids who hang with a group that shares poor eating habits may adopt its position.
“Our study demonstrates that people within a ‘group’ are more likely to view the behaviour of other perceived group members as an appropriate or relevant guide. Therefore, seeing fellow group members make healthy choices – or receiving a healthy food recommendation from them – may promote healthier eating habits,” says study lead-author Juliana Gleaves.
The takeaway
“We hope the outcomes of our findings will lead to further research in this area that ultimately generates improved communications and support materials for health campaigns and interventions that promote healthier food choices in social media settings and beyond,” Gleaves concludes.
My take
It makes sense that folks who feel an affiliation with a given group would adapt their own behaviour to correspond with that of the crowd. And there’s plenty of evidence to support the classic contention that humans are ‘social animals’.
What’s new – and promising – here is the idea of leveraging group dynamics to convince people, particularly young people, to make better dietary choices. But, as with all such ‘soft’ sciences, influencing folks to change any behaviour is a chancy thing. Maybe that’s why Gleaves stresses the need for further research, to determine the best way of going about it…
~ Maggie J.