As Bronfenbrenner’s model shows,
many external forces can influence the diet of an individual. Within the
macrosystem, cultural and social conditions greatly influence how an individual
may eat. In the United States, eating insects like grasshoppers and cockroaches
is generally considered gross. Meanwhile, in a recent report by the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization urging the world to eat more insects, there are nearly
2,000 different species of insects on Earth that are not only edible, but hundreds
of those species listed in that report are considered staples and even delicacies
in many other societies around the world. Moving inward on the model, the
exosystem, which includes mass media, also impacts how an individual eats. For
a half hour programmed showing on television, 22 minutes are dedicated to the
show itself, and of the remaining 8 minutes, 6 minutes are dedicated to
national advertising, and 2 minutes for local advertising. Since the average American watches about 5
hours of TV every day, that adds up to nearly an hour and a half of straight
commercials every day, and 10 and a half hours of just commercials each week. I’d
say that certainly has at least a subliminal impact on how an individual eats.
As we focus closer to the individual in the model, we hit the microsystem which
includes family/siblings and peers. While the other two outstanding layers do
impact the individual, I think the microsystem has the most impact on an
individual’s food habits and choices than all others combined. Even more influence
than the individual has over their own body and mind.
As the Bourcier et al article states, the family exerts powerful influence in shaping and maintaining family members’ eating habits and food preferences. Also dietary interventions that involve families tend to have more positive effects on dietary behavior change than interventions that do not incorporate families. Similarly, overtly controlling behavior about food and restricting the amount of food tend to have negative influences on children’s eating. The most commonly used strategies by family food preparers to influence eating behavior had much to do with them taking responsibility for the children’s healthy eating. By bringing home healthy foods, making food, monitoring what the family eats, and trying to set a good example for their children, I’d say they certainly have control of the family’s diet. The Batsell et al article also strengthens the idea that any authority figure can influence an individual’s dietary behavior. When it comes to forced consumption and subsequent food rejection, forced consumption is defined as Person(s) A forcing or demanding Person B to consume a specific substance against their will. An initial survey of 407 college students revealed that over 69% of them had experienced at least one forced consumption episode. More specifically, 76% reported that this episode involved an authority figure. The forced consumption situation is associated with enduring food rejection because a non-preferred food item is associated with a negative social conflict. This interpretation is consistent with previous studies of how experiences can influence a child’s eating habits. In this scenario, respondents recalled the episode as involving interpersonal conflict and negative affect, and identified the worst aspects of this scenario as lack of control and feelings of helplessness. Furthermore, 72% of the respondents reported that they would not willingly eat the target food again today.
Last in the Bronfenbrenner model is the individual. This final, internal, layer I think is the biggest wildcard. As Bronfenbrenner’s model shows still, many external forces can influence the diet of an individual, but some tastes (pun intended) you’re just born with. I, for example, hate bananas. I always have and frankly I always will. I can’t stand the smell, taste or texture and refuse to eat it, no matter how small. I don’t hate bananas because our culture says I should, or because the media says so, or even because my family says so. I was never forced to consume a banana either and my parents were willing to work around my distaste by being the understanding and caring parents that they are. I simply was born thinking bananas were gross. Don’t get me wrong though, I pride myself on being an adventurous eater. My philosophy on new foods as I’ve grown older has always been, “how will I ever know if I like something or not if I never try it.”
One other influence is peers. There is research showing that school-aged children are affected by what their peers eat even more than by what their parents eat, and some start to reject foods that are common in their household if their peers think they are gross (probably not the source of the banana issue here, but still an important influence). This may be because we are especially apt to behave like models we see as being like us, or perhaps as we wish we were (popular kids).
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