The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behavior

Food Choice 33

problem of optimal nutrition” (Davis, 1928). The children were offered a
variety of 10 to 12 healthy foods prepared without sugar, salt, or seasoning
and were free to eat whatever they chose. Her detailed reports from this
study showed that the children were able to select a diet consistent with
growth and health and were free from any feeding problems. The results
from this study generated a theory of “the wisdom of the body,” which
emphasized the body’s innate food preferences. In line with this, Davis
concluded from her data that children have an innate regulatory mechanism
and are able to select a healthy diet. She also, however, emphasized that
they could do so only as long as healthy food was available, and argued
that the children’s food preferences changed over time and were modified
by experience. Birch, who has extensively studied the developmental aspects
of food choice, interpreted Davis’s data to suggest that what was innate was
the “ability to learn about the consequences of eating [and] to learn to asso-
ciate food cues with the consequences of ingestion in order to control food
intake” (Birch, 1989, p. 181). Birch therefore emphasized the role of learning
and described a developmental systems perspective (e.g., Birch, 1999). In
line with this analysis, the development of food preferences can be under-
stood in terms of exposure, social learning, and associative learning.

Developmental model

exposure

social learning

associative learning

Psychophysiological model

neurochemicals

chemical senses

food and mood

stress

Cognitive model

attitudes

social norms

perceived control

ambivalence

Food choice

Figure 3.1 Food choice.