Adventurous Eating: Expand Your Palate, Not Your Waistline

Abstract

To examine the relationship between adventurous eating and body mass index (BMI) and to describe differences between adventurous and non-adventurous eaters. Participants were 501 diverse young women (mean age= 26.8, mean BMI=25.96). Survey measures assessed participants' eating adventurousness, perceptions of novel foods, height/weight, lifestyle and psychological characteristics. Eating adventurousness was assessed by asking if participants had tried some novel foods (e.g., seitan, beef tongue, polenta) (range 0-16). Linear regressions were run to examine associations between eating adventurousness and BMI. To examine mean differences between adventurous and non-adventurous eaters, ANOVAs were run for each of the lifestyle and psychological variables, as well as perceptions of novel foods. Eating adventurousness was significantly associated with BMI, in that adventurous eaters had lower BMIs (B= -0.191, t(499)=-2.796, p<0.01). Adventurous eaters (n=135) had significantly higher means on cooking to connect with their heritage, hosting friends for dinner, how physically active they were, how particular they were about the healthfulness of food, and enjoyment of trying new things, as compared to non-adventurous eaters (n=366). Adventurous eaters had lower means on importance of new foods being those that celebrities eat, importance of a new food being inexpensive, importance of a food being nicely packaged, and the importance of a new food being easy to fix. Adventurous eating is associated with lower BMI. Identification of characteristics that differ between adventurous and non-adventurous eaters may illuminate target areas for weight management. Promoting adventurous eating may be a way to help individuals lose/maintain weight without feeling as restricted.