What are Eating Behaviors, and How are Healthy Eating Behaviors Essential for Reaping the Benefits of a Balanced Diet?

Cells are the body’s structural units. All the reactions and processes of living organisms operate in cells. Cells need energy to perform all the actions of the body. This energy is obtained from food. Eating a healthy, balanced diet at the right time and in a way appropriate to that individual’s needs is essential. Eating behavior is a broad term that covers all aspects of food intake, like food choices, motives, feeding practices, and eating-related disorders.

Developmental Model of Eating Behavior

Davis took a developmental approach to eating behavior. This model emphasizes the importance of learning and experience and focuses on the development of food preferences in childhood. The development of food preferences can be understood in terms of exposure, social learning, and associative learning (Ogden, 2008).

Exposure

Humans need to consume various foods to have a balanced diet. However, they show fear and avoidance of novel foodstuffs, which is called neophobia. Research has shown that mere exposure to novel foods can change children’s preferences. One hypothesized explanation for the impact of exposure is the ‘learned safety’ view, which suggests that preference increases because eating the food has not resulted in any negative consequences. Neophobia reduces with age (Ogden, 2008).

Social learning

Social learning describes the impact of observing other people’s behavior on one’s behavior and is sometimes referred to as modeling. Eating patterns depend on observing others’ behaviors. A study showed that socialization significantly changed the children’s food preferences and specifically increased their consumption of fruit and vegetables. Parental attitudes to food and eating behaviors are also central to social learning. The impact of television and food advertising also shows the role of social learning. Sometimes, we eat just our favorite celebrity promoting that stuff, or are inspired by TV commercials (Ogden, 2008).

Associative learning

We associate food with the context and consequences of eating that food. We prefer flavors previously paired with a preferred sweet taste or nutrients that supply us with energy, such as sugars. A recent intervention study using videos to change eating behavior reported that rewarding vegetable consumption increased that behavior. Rewarding eating behavior improves food preferences. The associations between food and rewards highlight the role of parental control over eating behavior. Child feeding strategies that restrict children’s access to snack foods make three of the restricted foods more attractive. When food is made freely available, children will choose more of the restricted than the unrestricted foods, mainly when the mother is not present (Ogden, 2008)

Appropriate Time for Food Intake

Circadian clocks are a biological timing system found in every body cell that coordinates the timing of our daily behaviors, e.g., sleep/wake and feeding/fasting. It is necessary to take our food at the proper time to keep our internal homeostasis balance. Health can be negatively affected when your biological clocks are out of sync with the environment. For example, we know that the body expects to use certain kinds of fat and sugar at specific times of the day. When active, your body is best at digesting food (Manoogian, Chaix, & Panda, 2019). Food intake can disrupt and compromise metabolism when your body expects you to rest. Human studies in young adults found that eating close to when levels of the sleep hormone melatonin start to rise is associated with having more body fat. In a randomized weight-loss study, women with obesity who ate earlier in the day lost more weight (Manoogian, Chaix, & Panda, 2019). A study in adults found that late-night eating increases blood sugar levels after the meal and the following day. Observational studies in people have also found that late-night eating is associated with obesity and a greater risk of poor cardiometabolic health (Manoogian, Chaix, & Panda, 2019).

Balanced Diet

Food that maintains and develops our body and mind is balanced. A balanced diet contains components from all nutrients. Nutrient requirements vary from person to person.

Water

Water carries nutrients to the cells and the brain. All metabolic reactions in our body are done in aqueous solutions. It regulates temperature. An individual needs to intake clean water for healthy survival.

Fruit and vegetables

A wide variety of fruits and vegetables should be consumed, preferably five or more servings per day.

Carbohydrates and fibers

Bread, pasta, other cereals, and potatoes for energy

Meat, fish, and alternative

Moderate amounts of meat, fish, and alternatives should be eaten, and it is recommended that low-fat varieties be chosen.

Milk and dairy products

Dairy products should be eaten in moderation, and low-fat alternatives should be chosen where possible.

Fatty and sugary foods

Food such as crisps, sweets, and sugary drinks should be eaten infrequently and in small amounts.

Small chunks of food

Food should be eaten in smaller chunks. This provides a greater surface area for enzymes to act, making food easily digestible.

Balance and Imbalance Effects of Nutrients

When humans are energy deficient, a complex interplay of physiological processes signals the brain that food should be consumed, i.e., an individual feels hungry. When enough food has been consumed, these processes signal that consumption should be terminated, i.e., an individual feels satiated. This homeostatic regulation of eating is steadily challenged and overridden by the omnipresence of food and food-related cues. That is, eating can be triggered even in the absence of hunger.  Excessiveness and deficiency both lead to the suffering of the body and mind.

How do unhealthy eating behaviors cause mental health problems?

Constant monitoring and self-regulation of eating is necessary to eat healthily, i.e., to provide the body both qualitatively and quantitatively with the proper nutrients. Research has proved that a balanced diet and healthy food choices are important factors in developing the brain and preventing cognitive disorders. Unhealthy eating behaviors are one of the causes of mental health problems, including hyperactivity disorder, depression, and conduct problems in adolescents. A study conducted by Oellingrath et al. showed Significant associations between unhealthy eating patterns, including junk/ convenient and snacking eating patterns, and hyperactivity disorder among Norwegian adolescents (Farhangi, 2018). College students face many challenges that may encourage unhealthy eating habits, which can lead to weight gain. They are frequently exposed to unhealthy foods, such as high-calorie snacks and fast foods, and have lower consumption of fruits and vegetables. Unhealthy dietary habits are among the significant risk factors for obesity and related chronic diseases (Alkazemi, 2018). Research has proved that excessive carbs cause inflammation and stress within cells and may even directly cause hypertension. Studies have shown that the link between sugars and the functioning of the pancreas leads to diabetes and improper functioning of insulin. Carbs have also been linked with obesity and weight gain. 5 Ogden (1995) monitored the effects of self-imposed dieting over six weeks and reported increased depression and preoccupation with food. These results suggest that dieting can have several negative consequences and that these changes are possibly involved in causing overeating. Women, adolescent girls, in particular, have more concern with body weight or obsession with thinness, which leads them to have disordered eating behaviors. Disordered eating behaviors refer to many disturbed eating patterns that affect the nutritional status of adolescent girls. Disordered eating behaviors are associated with several harmful physical and psychosocial consequences, like poorer dietary quality, depressive symptoms, weight gain, and finally, the onset of eating disorders (Mallick, Ray, & Mukhopadhyay, 2014)

Conclusion

Our body needs fuel in terms of energy to work and function properly. Excess and deficiency of fuel lead to improper functioning of the body and brain cells that may cause physical and psychological problems. So, every individual must know and be aware of his/her nutritional needs and should consider the appropriate time and proper nutrients in his/her nutritional process to maintain regular and healthy functioning of physical and psychological well-being.

References

Alkazemi, D. (2018). Gender differences in weight status, dietary habits, and health attitudes among college students in Kuwait: A cross-sectional study. Nutrition and Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/0260106018817410

Farhangi, A. M., Dehghan, P., & Jahangiry, L. (2018). Mental health problems about eating behavior Patterns, nutrient intakes, and health-related quality of life among Iranian female adolescents. PLOS ONE, 13(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0195669

Mallick, N., Ray, S., & Mukhopadhyay, S. (2014). Eating behaviors and body weight

Concerns among adolescent girls. Advances in Public Health, 2014, 1-8.

doi:10.1155/2014/25739

Manoogian, E. N., Chaix, A., & Panda, S. (2019). When to eat: The importance of eating

Patterns in health and disease. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 34(6), 579-581.

doi:10.1177/0748730419892105

Meule, A., & Vögele, C. (2013). The psychology of eating. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00215

Ogden, J. (2008). Essential readings in health psychology. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press