In a study that looked to determine whether obesity is a socially transmitted disease, a team of U.K. researchers found that social norms definitely influence the food choices we make.
The research was a review of fifteen previous studies from eleven publications. Researchers looked at whether providing information about other peoples' eating habits influenced food intake or choice of a person.
While 8 of the studies reviewed, looked into how information about food intake influenced the food choices participants made, the remaining seven studies reported the effects of food choice on how people decide what to eat, according to a press statement.
The meta-analysis revealed that when participants were provided with information that said others were making low-calorie or high-calorie food choices, they were more likely to make similar food choices.
They also found that when participants were informed about other people eating larger portions, they too increased their food consumption. This confirmed that social norms highly influence the quantity of food a person consumes.
"It appears that in some contexts, conforming to informational eating norms may be a way of reinforcing identity to a social group, which is in line with social identity theory," explained lead investigator Eric Robinson, PhD, of the University of Liverpool in the press statement. "By this social identity account, if a person's sense of self is strongly guided by their identity as a member of their local community and that community is perceived to eat healthily, then that person would be hypothesized to eat healthily in order to maintain a consistent sense of social identity."
Researchers also found that social norms influenced food choices according to the company they kept. According to research investigators, one reason behind this mechanism could be our need to "fit in" and be part of the society we live in.
"Norms influence behavior by altering the extent to which an individual perceives the behavior in question to be beneficial to them. Human behavior can be guided by a perceived group norm, even when people have little or no motivation to please other people," said Dr. Robinson. "Given that in some studies the participants did not believe that their behavior was influenced by the informational eating norms, it seems that participants may not have been consciously considering the norm information when making food choices."
Though the experts stated that more research needs to be conducted on this subject, these preliminary findings can help understand how and why people make the food choices. This can also help create better and more effective public policies.
"The evidence reviewed here is consistent with the idea that eating behaviors can be transmitted socially," concludes Dr. Robinson. "Taking these points into consideration, the findings of the present review may have implications for the development of more effective public health campaigns to promote 'healthy eating.' Policies or messages that normalize healthy eating habits or reduce the prevalence of beliefs that lots of people eat unhealthily may have beneficial effects on public health."
