Page 205 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

Adolescents like to make their own food choices.

Influences on Eating Habits

Why do adolescents make the food choices they do? A study of adolescents assessed their perceptions of
factors influencing their food choices. These factors included hunger and food cravings, appeal of the food,
taste of the food, time considerations, convenience of the food, food availability, parental influences on eating
behaviors (such as culture or religion), health benefits of foods, situation-specific factors, mood, body image,
habit, cost, media influences, and vegetarian beliefs. However, the most influential factor was the adolescent’s
desire to fit the social norms of the peer group, that is, teenagers’ food choices were most likely influenced by
what their best friend was eating.15,23

Food is often a social experience and eating often occurs when one is surrounded by one’s friends or peers.
Because adolescents are uncomfortable with anything that makes them seem different from their peer group,
they may tend to eat whatever snacks or meals their friends are eating. Sometimes, this may be a positive
experience, as when adolescents mimic the healthy eating habits of their friends. But it may have a negative
effect if adolescents choose to mimic the unhealthy dietary choices of their peers. Peer interaction can also
affect food choices at parties and sporting events, entice after-school snacking, and induce consumption of
alcohol. Thus, the challenge for the counselor is to help individual adolescents incorporate healthful eating

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