28 Healthy Eating
of processed foods shows no sign of declining. In a large-scale survey,
Steptoe et al. (1995) found that health was a motivation for food choice
but that it was only one of many other factors. Other factors included
sensory appeal, price, convenience of purchasing and preparation, weight
control, familiarity of the food, mood regulation, the natural content of
the food, and ethical concerns about manufacture and the country of origin.
Eating behavior is, therefore, motivated by many factors, and health is
probably not a particularly high priority for many people. It is possible that
for people without any health-related symptoms, health concerns are of
low salience and do not impact upon their decisions about behavior in any
significant way. However, health concerns may become more of a motiva-
tional force once a person’s health starts to suffer and once they experience
symptoms which they believe may be modifiable by their behavior (Leventhal
et al., 1999). This suggestion is in line with research exploring illness
cognitions in the context of a number of chronic illnesses such as hyper-
tension, heart disease, and diabetes which suggests that without symptoms
people are reluctant to change their behavior or adhere to any medical
recommendations whether they be taking medication or modifying
behavior.
A Note on Measuring Food Intake
Measuring any behavior whether it be smoking, alcohol consumption,
or exercise is difficult as all measurement approaches have their problems.
This is particularly the case when assessing eating behavior, and all
methods of measurement have their strengths and weaknesses.
In the laboratory: Researchers assess food intake using paradigms such as
a taste test in which the participant rates a number of different foods
for qualities including saltiness or preference, and then their intake
is measured without them knowing that this was going to happen.
Researchers may also place plates of food on top of weighing scales so
that food intake can automatically be assessed. Alternatively, participants
can be offered carefully prepared meals which have been assessed in terms
of their nutritional content and then assessed again after the participants
have eaten whatever they wish. Assessing eating in a laboratory provides
an environment in which food can be pre-prepared, weighed, and
reweighed and all other extraneous variables can be assessed, removed,