Exploring fast food consumption behaviours and social influence.
type: CreativeWork
description: There has been an increase in the consumption of convenience-style foods. This change has occurred concurrently with a global rise in obesity rates which has led to some researchers blaming the increased consumption of ‘big brand’ fast foods (such as McDonald’s) for expanding waistlines. Nutritional profiling in the initial study showed that the energy provided in a typical fast food meal seemed ‘appropriate’ in terms of a general daily intake but that increased meal sizes, poor ordering decisions and choice of fast food restaurant could influence energy balance and long-term health outcomes. Even though fast foods are occupying a larger part of the diet, limited previous research has explored how social influences (including modelling, social norms and social facilitation) may increase the intake of fast foods. Therefore the aim of this dissertation was to explore environmental, social and demographic influences on the amount of fast food consumed at a single eating occasion. The Fast Food Survey (FFS) was developed and administered to two samples to collect information – including the item/s eaten and any social, environmental or demographic influences that surrounded the consumption – on participants’ most recent visit to one of the large fast food chains in Australia. Results from an initial sample (n=116) revealed both the effectiveness of the program that delivered the FFS and support for the hypothesis that environmental and social factors could influence the amount of fast food consumed. A second study using the FFS aimed to test and develop an existing model of social facilitation (originally developed using ‘general’ eating behaviours) in the specific context of fast food consumption. Accordingly, a larger sample (n=407) was recruited via the Internet. Following path analysis, there was support for the time-extension hypothesis in the current data; eating with other people predicted the time spent eating which subsequently predicted energy consumption from…
abstract: There has been an increase in the consumption of convenience-style foods. This change has occurred concurrently with a global rise in obesity rates which has led to some researchers blaming the increased consumption of ‘big brand’ fast foods (such as McDonald’s) for expanding waistlines. Nutritional profiling in the initial study showed that the energy provided in a typical fast food meal seemed ‘appropriate’ in terms of a general daily intake but that increased meal sizes, poor ordering decisions and choice of fast food restaurant could influence energy balance and long-term health outcomes. Even though fast foods are occupying a larger part of the diet, limited previous research has explored how social influences (including modelling, social norms and social facilitation) may increase the intake of fast foods. Therefore the aim of this dissertation was to explore environmental, social and demographic influences on the amount of fast food consumed at a single eating occasion. The Fast Food Survey (FFS) was developed and administered to two samples to collect information – including the item/s eaten and any social, environmental or demographic influences that surrounded the consumption – on participants’ most recent visit to one of the large fast food chains in Australia. Results from an initial sample (n=116) revealed both the effectiveness of the program that delivered the FFS and support for the hypothesis that environmental and social factors could influence the amount of fast food consumed. A second study using the FFS aimed to test and develop an existing model of social facilitation (originally developed using ‘general’ eating behaviours) in the specific context of fast food consumption. Accordingly, a larger sample (n=407) was recruited via the Internet. Following path analysis, there was support for the time-extension hypothesis in the current data; eating with other people predicted the time spent eating which subsequently predicted energy consumption from…
author: Brindal, Emily
keywords: fast food; social influence; norms; social facilitation; obesity
date published: 2010
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:50:39Z
provider: University of Adelaide
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Adelaide

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2440/62481