Eating
Behavior
PROF DR AMENA ZEHRA ALI,
DEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY,
UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI
THINK!!
Consider this quote…
“The full person does not
understand the needs of the hungry.”
What does this mean to you?
THINK!!
Can you relate?
Have you ever dieted (or like now, when you are fasting)
and experienced the food-distracted thoughts?
How did that affect your behavior?
Share!!
THINK!!
How does Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
help explain the statement below?
When you are hungry,
thirsty, fatigued, or
sexually aroused, little
else may seem to
matter.
What physiological factors
produce hunger?
• Stomach • Appetite
contractions? hormones?
• Brain structures?
• Blood • Basal metabolic
glucose? rate?
How is hunger related to stomach contractions?
Working with Walter Cannon, A. L. Washburn swallowed a balloon
attached to a recording device.
When inflated to fill his stomach, the balloon transmitted
his stomach contractions. Washburn pressed a key each time he had a
feeling of hunger and felt a hunger pang.
What were
the results?
Whenever Washburn felt
hungry, he was indeed
having stomach
contractions.
Can hunger exist without stomach
contractions?
• To test this question, researchers removed some rats’
stomachs, creating a direct path to their small intestines.
The rats continued to eat. (Tsang, 1938)
• Some hunger similarly persists in humans whose ulcerated
or cancerous stomachs have been removed. If the pangs
of an empty stomach are not the only source of hunger,
what else matters?
What is glucose?
• the form of sugar that
circulates in the blood
and provides the major
source of energy for
body tissues
How does blood glucose impact hunger?
• If your blood glucose level drops, you won’t
consciously feel the lower blood sugar.
• But your brain, which is automatically
monitoring your blood chemistry and your
body’s internal state, will trigger hunger.
• Appetite hormones released from your
hypothalamus, stomach, intestines, pancreas,
and liver all signal your brain to motivate eating
or not to motivate eating.
What role does the hypothalamus play
in hunger?
• The hypothalamus (colored
orange) performs various body
maintenance functions,
including control of hunger.
Blood vessels supply the
hypothalamus, enabling it to
respond to our current blood
chemistry as well as to
incoming neural information
about the body’s state.
How does the arcuate nucleus impact
hunger?
• A small structure in the
base of the hypothalamus,
the arcuate nucleus (in pink
color) plays a key role in the
regulation of appetite and
body weight.
Two portions of the hypothalamus that
control appetite.
Lateral Hypothalamus (LH) Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH)
• Stimulation of this structure • Stimulation of this structure
in the hypothalamus in the hypothalamus inhibits
stimulates hunger. hunger.
• Lesioning (surgically • Lesioning inhibits satiety(full)
removing) inhibits hunger signals.
signals.
What research has been conducted?
• When the neural center which
secretes appetite-suppressing
hormones is electrically stimulated,
animals will stop eating.
• Destroy this area and animals can’t
stop eating and will become obese.
• (Duggan & Booth, 1986; Hoebel &
Teitelbaum, 1966)
Role of Hormones
• The hormones leptin and insulin, sex hormones and growth
hormone influence our appetite, metabolism (the rate at
which our body burns kilojoules for energy), and body fat
distribution.
Role of Hormones
• Thyroid function problems:
• Weight gain may signal low levels of thyroid hormones, a
condition called hypothyroidism.
• If the thyroid produces more hormones than the body
needs, you may lose weight unexpectedly. This is known
as hyperthyroidism.
What are five appetite hormones?
• insulin: • PYY [Peptide YY]:
decreases decreases
appetite • leptin: appetite
decreases
• ghrelin: appetite • orexin:
increases increases
appetite appetite
What is
orexin?
A HUNGER-TRIGGERING
HORMONE PRODUCED BY THE
HYPOTHALAMUS
What is
ghrelin?
HORMONE SECRETED BY
EMPTY STOMACH; SENDS “I’M
HUNGRY” SIGNALS TO THE
BRAIN
What is
insulin?
HORMONE SECRETED BY
PANCREAS; CONTROLS
BLOOD GLUCOSE
What is
leptin?
PROTEIN HORMONE SECRETED
BY FAT CELLS; WHEN
ABUNDANT, CAUSES BRAIN TO
INCREASE METABOLISM AND
DECREASE HUNGER
What is PYY
(peptide tyrosine
tyrosine)?
DIGESTIVE TRACT HORMONE;
SENDS “I’M NOT HUNGRY”
SIGNALS TO THE BRAIN
What is the set point?
• the point (weight) at which your “weight thermostat” may
be set (fixed)
• When your body falls below this weight, increased hunger
and a lowered metabolic rate may combine to restore
lost weight.
What oppositions are there to the idea
of set point?
• Some researchers doubt that our bodies have a preset
tendency to maintain optimum weight (Assanand et al.,
1998).
• They point out that slow, sustained changes in body
weight can alter one’s set point, and that psychological
factors also sometimes drive our feelings of hunger.
Think critically about set point.
• Given unlimited access to a wide variety of tasty foods,
people and other animals tend to overeat and gain
weight. (Raynor & Epstein, 2001)
• For these reasons, some researchers prefer the term
settling point to indicate the level at which a person’s
weight settles in response to caloric intake and
expenditure.
What is basal metabolic rate?
• Our bodies regulate weight through the control of food
intake, energy output, and basal metabolic rate —the
resting rate of energy expenditure for maintaining basic
body functions.
Digestion’s Part in Metabolism
• Digestion is 7-13% of your metabolism
• Overeating speeds up metabolism
• Our bodies must work harder to digest the food we take in
when we overeat
• Our bodies metabolism must work harder to digest that
which will make us heavier
• Overweight people overeat so much that they override
the body’s natural defense mechanism of the increased
digestion rate
There is more to hunger than meets the
stomach….
• Researchers tested two patients with
amnesia who had no memory for events
occurring more than a minute ago.
• If, 20 minutes after eating a normal lunch,
the patients were offered another, both
readily consumed it . . . and usually a third
meal offered 20 minutes after the second
was finished.
• This suggests that part of knowing when to
eat is our memory of our last meal.
“ We put fast food on every corner, we put junk
food in our schools, we got rid of [physical
education classes], we put candy and soda at the
checkout stand of every retail outlet you can
think of. The results are in. It worked.”
• Harold Goldstein, Executive Director of the
California Center for Public Health Advocacy,
2009, when imagining a vast U.S. national
experiment to encourage weight gain.
How do situations control our eating
behavior?
• Some situations arouse our appetite more than others.
• In one experiment, watching an intense action movie
(rather than a non-arousing interview) doubled snacking.
(Tal et al., 2014).
THINK!!
Are there other situations that makes us eat more?
Do we eat more when we are around
others?
• Most of us do!! (Herman et al., 2003; Hetherington et al., 2006)
• After a party, you may realize you’ve overeaten.
• This happens because the presence of others tends to
amplify our natural behavior tendencies.
What does the research on
serving size show?
Offered pasta, people eat more when given a bigger
plate. (Van Ittersum & Wansink, 2012)
Children also eat more when using adult-sized (rather than
child-sized) dishware. (DiSantis et al., 2013)
Even nutrition experts helped themselves to 31 percent
more ice cream when given a big bowl rather than a
small one. (Wansink, 2014; Wansink et al., 2006)
Does food variety stimulate eating?
• Yes.
• Offered a dessert buffet, people eat more than they do
when choosing a portion from one favorite dessert.
• For our early ancestors, variety was healthy. When
foods were abundant and varied, eating more
provided a wide range of vitamins and minerals and
produced protective fat for winter cold or famine.
(Polivy et al., 2008; Remick et al., 2009)
How do set point and metabolism
contribute to obesity?
• Fat (lower metabolic rate than muscle) requires less food
intake to maintain than it did to gain.
• If weight drops below a set point/settling point, the brain
triggers hunger and metabolism.
• Body perceives STARVATION; adapts by burning fewer calories.
Most dieters in the long run regain what they lose on weight-
loss programs.
How does sleep loss make us more
vulnerable to obesity?
Sleep deprivation increases the release of ghrelin which
stimulates the appetite and decreases the release of leptin
which reports body fat to the brain.
So, if we are eating more and not alerting the brain to fat
accumulation, we are going to gain weight.
Eating
Disorder
What is an Eating Disorder?
• Eating Disorders are neurobiological disorders rooted in
the brain causing medical and psychological issues
• They are NOT a choice and not simply about control or
weight management
• Genetics, Environment, Temperament all play a role
• Experienced by all genders, body sizes, SES
Types of Eating Disorders
• Anorexia Nervosa (AN)
• Restriction of energy intake; Body image disturbance
• Bulimia Nervosa (BN)
• Recurrent binge eating episodes and compensatory behaviors that are meant to
prevent weight gain
• Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
• Recurring and persistent episodes of binge eating with the absence of regular
compensatory behaviors
• Other Specified Eating or Feeding Disorders (OSFED)
• Symptoms of an eating disorder but don’t meet full criteria
• Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
• Limitations on the amount or types of food intake; without distress about body
shape or size or fears of fatness
Developmental Continuum of
Eating Habits and Disorders
Transition into Adolescence
• Anorexia and bulimia typically occur during
adolescence
• Girls place greater emphasis on self-perceptions of their
physical appearance more than boys
• Contradictory social messages imply that women must
be successful in traditional feminine and masculine roles
• Changes encourage smoking and other substance use
to prevent impulse to binge eat and consequences of
weight gain
Dieting and Weight Concerns
• Dieting may lead to a
vicious cycle of weight loss
and weight gain,
overeating, and the “false
hope syndrome,” as well as
binge eating and
subsequent purging
• Many young people diet,
but only a small minority
develop eating disorders
SCOFF Screen
• S- Do you feel SICK because you feel full?
• C- Do you lose CONTROL over how much you eat?
• O- Have you lost more than ONE stone (13 lbs.) recently?
• F- Do you believe yourself to be FAT when others say you
are thin?
• F-Does FOOD dominate your life?
• 2 or more “Yes” is a strong indication of an ED.
• Morgan JF, Reid F, Lacey JH. The SCOFF questionnaire: assessment of a new screening tool
for eating disorders. BMJ 1999; 319:1467.
Causes of Eating Disorders
• Personality Traits
• Genetics
• Environmental Influences
• Biochemistry
Personality Traits
• Low self-esteem
• Feelings of inadequacy or lack of control in life
• Fear of becoming fat
• Depressed, anxious, angry, and lonely feelings
• Rarely disobey
• Keep feelings to themselves
• Perfectionists
• Achievement oriented
• Good students
• Excellent athletes
• Competitive careers
Personality Traits
• Food and the control of food is used as an attempt to
cope with feelings and emotions that seem
overwhelming
• Having followed the wishes of others...
• Not learned how to cope with problems typical of
adolescence, growing up, and becoming independent
• People binge and purge to reduce stress and relieve
anxiety
• Anorexic people thrive on taking control of their
bodies and gaining approval from others
• Highly value external reinforcement and acceptance
Genetic Factors
• Increased risk of anorexia nervosa among first-degree biological relatives of
individuals with the disorder
• increased risk of mood disorders among first-degree biological relatives of people
with anorexia, particularly the binge-eating/purging type.
• Twin studies
• concordant rates for monozygotic twins is significantly higher than those for dizygotic
twins.
• Mothers who are overly concerned about their daughter’s weight and
physical attractiveness might cause increased risk for development of
eating disorders.
• Girls with eating disorders often have brothers and a father who are overly
critical of their weight.
Genetics Linked to Anorexia, Bingeing
- Indianapolis Star, March 12, 2006
• 2 new studies show that genetics may outweigh
environmental factors in producing eating disorders.
• 1) Records from 30,000 Swedish twins found identical
twins more likely to share an eating problem than
fraternal twins or non twin siblings
• found that genes were responsible for 56% of the
cases.
• “People need to understand that they are fighting their
biology and not just a psychological need to be thin” - Dr.
Cynthia Bulik of University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Genetics Linked to Anorexia, Bingeing
- Indianapolis Star, March 12, 2006
• 2) Strong genetic contribution to binge-eating - Dr. James
Hudson at Harvard Medical School
• Interviewed the parents, siblings, and children of 300
people, half with a history of binge-eating
• Findings:
• family members of binge-eaters were twice as likely to have a
similar eating disorder than those without a history.
• relatives of binge-eaters were more than twice as likely to be
obese
Environmental Factors
• Interpersonal Factors
• troubled family and personal relationships
• difficulty expressing emotions and feelings
• history of being teased or ridiculed based on size
or weight
• history of trauma, sexual, physical and/or mental
abuse
• 60-75% of all bulimia nervosa patients have a history
of physical and/or sexual abuse
Environmental Factors
• Social Factors (media and cultural pressures)
• Cultural pressures that glorify "thinness" and place value on
obtaining the "perfect body”
• Narrow definitions of beauty that include only women and
men of specific body weights and shapes
• Cultural norms that value people based on physical
appearance and not inner qualities and strengths
• People pursuing professions or activities that emphasize
thinness are more susceptible
• ie. Modeling, dancing, gymnastics, wresting, long distance
running
Environmental Factors
• What is peculiar about eating disorders is that they are linked
to Western culture, where food is plentiful and physical
appearance is highly valued
• In Western society, eating disorders are the third most common illness
in adolescent females
What about our culture these days?
Environmental Factors
• Media messages help to create the context within
which people learn to place value on the size and
shape of their body.
• Advertising and celebrity spotlights scream “thin is in,”
defining what is beautiful and good.
• Media has high power over the development of self-
esteem.
Biochemical Factors
• Chemical imbalances in the neuroendocrine system
• these imbalances control hunger, appetite, digestion, sexual
function, sleep, heart and kidney function, memory, emotions, and
thinking
• Serotonin and norepinephrine are decreased in acutely ill
anorexia and bulimia patients
• representing a link between depression and eating
disorders
• Excessive levels of cortisol in both anorexia and depression
• caused by a problem that occurs in or near the
hypothalamus