The Impact of the Environment for Shaping Food Intake. Does it Contribute to Obesity?

America is fast becoming an obesogenic society, defined by environments that promote increased intake of energy-rich foods and physical inactivity from sedentary lifestyles. This energy imbalance has led to a skyrocketing rate of obesity. An energy imbalance, resulting from excessive food intake could certainly be seen as a contributory factor in this obesity crisis. A close examination of food intake habits reveals a propensity for us to let external cues and signals determine the amount of food eaten rather than the internal biological signals of satiety. These external determinants can range from the lighting in the restaurant to the size of the bowl to the number of people with which you dine and most of us are oblivious to this influence. This paper will examine the role of external cues and signals and the part they play in what we eat, the amount we eat and when we eat it. By recognizing and understanding this dependence on external cues as a guide for fullness, perhaps we can rethink the way we eat and begin to at least slow the growing rate of obesity.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Payne, Sharon

• Food Intake

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/14885

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/14885