Food Choices and the Obesity Epidemic - psychological approach to why people eat what they do, and what can be done about it. Includes Bibliography.

Society has significant problems with food choices today, enough that terms like "binge eating" and "fat-free" have become common vocabulary. Sadly, culture blames obesity on the individual. Consider the stereotype that overweight people are lazy, unmotivated, and gluttonous; many people hesitate to reject that statement. In brief, it is often accepted that an imperfect body reflects an imperfect person (Nutrition Action Healthletter, July-Aug. 1998). Many factors influence our food choices. We are motivated by economics, physiological …showed first 75 words of 1113 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1113 total…n10, p1118(9) Brownell, K. & Liebman B. (1998, July-August) The pressure to eat: why we're getting fatter. Nutrition Action Healthletter, v25, n6, p3(2) Kennedy, E. & Offutt S. (2000, May) Healthy lifestyles for healthy Americans: Report on USDA's year 2000 behavioral nutrition roundtable. Nutrition Today, v35, i3, p84. Birch L. & Fisher J. (1998, March) Development of eating behaviors among children and adolescents. Pediatrics, v101, n3, p539(11) Provine, R. (2000, November). Why we're fat (and the French aren't). Psychology Today.