Food Intake and Food Preference

Abstract

The biologic drive to eat results from complex neural and hormonal systems. The selection of one food over another is also complex, a process involving many factors including food availability, social and cultural norms, economic, biologic, and cognitive elements. Factors determining food preference are both learned and innate, stemming from environmental, psychosocial, biologic, and genetic influences. The environmental and psychosocial elements influencing food choice and preference include food’s perceived value, culture, religion, cost, access, and exposure to food advertisements. Many modalities have been used to quantify food intake and preference including food frequency questionnaires (FFQs), hedonic food scales, feeding studies, food records, and open-ended questionnaires. In this chapter, we will discuss environmental, psychological, social, and economic factors impacting food intake and preference as well as biologic factors shaping eating behaviors, and lastly discuss scientific methods of quantifying and qualifying food preference and intake.