Eating together: effects of the social context of eating on appetite

最近在确定我们目前的饮食环境中可能促进食物过度消费并导致损害健康的肥胖水平方面取得了很大进展。例如，一些证据表明，最近的趋势是食物产品可以大部分的大小和无处不在的美味食物线索在环境中可以解释为什么有些人倾向于吃，即使他们不处于营养需要的状态。然而，在肥胖驱动因素的理论中，一个被忽视的因素是饮食发生的社会背景。虽然已经确定在朋友或家人中吃饭会增加约70%的消费量，但迄今为止还没有调查这种“社会促进”饮食是否会随着时间的推移增加累积能量摄入。此外，很少有人知道为什么人们在与他人一起吃饭时比独自吃饭时吃得更多。本文提出的研究将通过对饮食的社会促进机制进行首次系统研究，并评估这些影响是否会随着时间的推移而得到补偿，从而解决文献中的这些重要空白。首先，我们将确定在与他人一起吃饭时发生的摄入量增加是否通过后来减少摄入量来平衡能量摄入来补偿。其次，我们将使用基于实验室的实验设计和在线调查方法进行一系列研究，以验证新的假设，即饮食的社会促进作用可以通过以下两个方面来解释：1）社会背景对食欲控制的基本心理生物学方面的影响，以及2）社会背景对餐前认知决策的影响。通过采用生物心理社会的方法来了解社会饮食的影响，目前的研究方案解决了ESRC的优先事项（ESRC研究投资：生物社会研究），并根据ESRC的战略优先事项对健康和福祉。研究结果将有助于食欲研究的理论发展和健康饮食环境建议政策的制定。总体而言，拟议研究的结果将加强对过度消费外部驱动因素的理解，并提供有关如何避免社会背景下暴饮暴食的新数据。

Much progress has been made recently in identifying aspects of our current eating environment that may promote overconsumption of food and result in a level of obesity that is damaging to health. For example, some evidence suggests that the recent trend towards food products being available in large portion sizes and the omnipresence of tasty food cues in the environment may explain why some people are prone to eating even when they are not in a state of nutritional need. However, a neglected factor in theories of the drivers of obesity is the social context in which eating occurs. While it has been established that eating in a group of friends or family increases consumption at that meal by around 70%, there has been no investigation to date of whether this "social facilitation" of eating results in increased cumulative energy intake over time. Moreover, very little is known about why people tend to eat more when eating with others than when eating alone. The studies proposed here will address these important gaps in the literature by conducting the first systematic examination of the mechanisms that underlie social facilitation of eating and assessing whether these effects are compensated for over time. First, we will establish whether the increase in intake that occurs during a meal eaten with others is compensated for by later reducing intake to balance energy intake. Second, we will conduct a series of studies using laboratory based experimental designs and online survey methods to test the novel hypotheses that social facilitation of eating is explained by 1) the effects of social context on fundamental psychobiological aspects of appetite control and 2) the effects of social context on cognitive decision making that takes place before a meal. By adopting a biopsychosocial approach to understand social eating effects, the present programme of research addresses an ESRC priority (ESRC research investment: biosocial research) and comes under the ESRC strategic priority on health and wellbeing. The results will contribute to theory development in appetite research and to the development of policies regarding advice on healthy eating environments. Overall the results of the proposed studies will enhance understanding of the external drivers of overconsumption and provide novel data on how overeating in social contexts may be avoided.