Browsing by Subject "Food Preferences"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Calorie menu labeling on quick-service restaurant menus: an updated systematic review of the literature.
    (The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2011-01) Swartz, Jonas J; Braxton, Danielle; Viera, Anthony J
    Nutrition labels are one strategy being used to combat the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 mandates that calorie labels be added to menu boards of chain restaurants with 20 or more locations. This systematic review includes seven studies published since the last review on the topic in 2008. Authors searched for peer-reviewed studies using PUBMED and Google Scholar. Included studies used an experimental or quasi-experimental design comparing a calorie-labeled menu with a no-calorie menu and were conducted in laboratories, college cafeterias, and fast food restaurants. Two of the included studies were judged to be of good quality, and five of were judged to be of fair quality. Observational studies conducted in cities after implementation of calorie labeling were imprecise in their measure of the isolated effects of calorie labels. Experimental studies conducted in laboratory settings were difficult to generalize to real world behavior. Only two of the seven studies reported a statistically significant reduction in calories purchased among consumers using calorie-labeled menus. The current evidence suggests that calorie labeling does not have the intended effect of decreasing calorie purchasing or consumption.
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    Chimpanzees and bonobos distinguish between risk and ambiguity.
    (Biol Lett, 2011-02-23) Rosati, Alexandra G; Hare, Brian
    Although recent research has investigated animal decision-making under risk, little is known about how animals choose under conditions of ambiguity when they lack information about the available alternatives. Many models of choice behaviour assume that ambiguity does not impact decision-makers, but studies of humans suggest that people tend to be more averse to choosing ambiguous options than risky options with known probabilities. To illuminate the evolutionary roots of human economic behaviour, we examined whether our closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), share this bias against ambiguity. Apes chose between a certain option that reliably provided an intermediately preferred food type, and a variable option that could vary in the probability that it provided a highly preferred food type. To examine the impact of ambiguity on ape decision-making, we interspersed trials in which chimpanzees and bonobos had no knowledge about the probabilities. Both species avoided the ambiguous option compared with their choices for a risky option, indicating that ambiguity aversion is shared by humans, bonobos and chimpanzees.
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    Drinking from arboreal water sources by mantled howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata Gray).
    (Folia Primatol (Basel), 1978) Glander, KE
    Despite occasional trips to the ground and feeding in trees whose canopies touched the river, mantled howling monkeys were never seen to drink from any ground water. Drinking from arboreal cisterns was observed, but only during the wet season (meteorologically the less stressful season but phenologically the more stressful season). The lack of sufficient new leaves during the wet season forced the howlers to ingest more mature leaves which contained significantly less water. To compensate for the lowered amount of water in their food, the monkeys utilized arboreal water cisterns. The cisterns dried up during the dry season, but the howlers maintained their water balance by altering their time of actiivity and selecting a diet comprised largely of succulent new leaves. The effect of plant-produced secondary compounds on drinking also was discussed.
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    Investigating the association between adolescents’ attitudes and food preferences with their eating behaviors: Inspiration from the FLASHE study
    (2023) Yao, Laiang

    Background: Nutrition plays an integral role in the development and growth for the adolescent populations. Nutrition education programs promotes healthy dietary behavior changes by increasing the nutritional knowledge of the adolescents as well as positively influencing the attitudes and food preferences. We aim to investigate the association between adolescents’ eating behaviors with their attitudes and food preferences. Methods: The Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health and Eating (FLASHE) dataset, consisting of a sample of 1657 adolescents 12-17 years old is a cross-sectional study assessing diet-related behaviors and factors correlated with those behaviors. We used the public dataset to investigate the association between food preferences and attitudes towards eating behaviors. Our statistical analysis approach consists of multiple correspondence analysis with our exposures (attitudes and food preferences) and separate ordinal logistic regression model. Results: [We found that five variables are positively associated with adolescents’ healthy eating behaviors, which are self-efficacy regarding eating fruits and vegetables on a daily basis (aOR=1.56, 95%CI=1.05-2.31), positive preferences towards water (aOR=2.45, 95%CI=1.60-3.73), fruit (aOR=2.01, 95%CI=1.18-3.40)and vegetables (2.63, 95%CI=1.82-3.79) as well as positive attitudes towards having a healthy diet (aOR=2.18, 95%CI=1.57-3.04). As for unhealthy eating behaviors, we found that positive preferences towards sugary sweetened beverages and soda have the highest estimate with increasing the consumption of unhealthy food products, with adjusted odds ratio of 2.52 (95%CI 1.79-3.55) and 1.93 (95%CI 1.36-2.73). Two other variables have the opposite effect, which are self-efficacy in limiting junk food consumption (aOR=0.71, 95%CI=0.49-1.00) and positive attitudes in having a healthy diet(aOR=0.67, 95%0.47-0.94). Conclusions: [We found that adolescents’ preferences are strong predictors for their eating behaviors. The attitudes and food preferences could influence their eating behaviors by increasing consumption of healthy food products and reducing the consumption of unhealthy food products. The results of our study is consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior along with multiple research. Education and intervention programs should aim at empowering the young generation to foster positive attitudes and motivation to eat healthily.]

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    Mechanical defenses in leaves eaten by Costa Rican howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata).
    (Am J Phys Anthropol, 2006-01) Teaford, MF; Lucas, PW; Ungar, PS; Glander, KE
    Primate species often eat foods of different physical properties. This may have implications for tooth structure and wear in those species. The purpose of this study was to examine the mechanical defenses of leaves eaten by Alouatta palliata from different social groups at Hacienda La Pacifica in Costa Rica. Leaves were sampled from the home-ranges of groups living in different microhabitats. Specimens were collected during the wet and dry seasons from the same tree, same plant part, and same degree of development as those eaten by the monkeys. The toughness of over 300 leaves was estimated using a scissors test on a Darvell mechanical tester. Toughness values were compared between social groups, seasons, and locations on the leaves using ANOVA. Representative samples of leaves were also sun-dried for subsequent scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analyses in an attempt to locate silica on the leaves. Both forms of mechanical defense (toughness and silica) were found to be at work in the plants at La Pacifica. Fracture toughness varied significantly by location within single leaves, indicating that measures of fracture toughness must be standardized by location on food items. Monkeys made some food choices based on fracture toughness by avoiding the toughest parts of leaves and consuming the least tough portions. Intergroup and seasonal differences in the toughness of foods suggest that subtle differences in resource availability can have a significant impact on diet and feeding in Alouatta palliata. Intergroup differences in the incidence of silica on leaves raise the possibility of matching differences in the rates and patterns of tooth wear.
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    ItemOpen Access
    Mechanical defenses in leaves eaten by Costa Rican howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata).
    (Am J Phys Anthropol, 2006-01) Glander, Kenneth Earl; Lucas, PW; Teaford, Mark F; Ungar, PS
    Primate species often eat foods of different physical properties. This may have implications for tooth structure and wear in those species. The purpose of this study was to examine the mechanical defenses of leaves eaten by Alouatta palliata from different social groups at Hacienda La Pacifica in Costa Rica. Leaves were sampled from the home-ranges of groups living in different microhabitats. Specimens were collected during the wet and dry seasons from the same tree, same plant part, and same degree of development as those eaten by the monkeys. The toughness of over 300 leaves was estimated using a scissors test on a Darvell mechanical tester. Toughness values were compared between social groups, seasons, and locations on the leaves using ANOVA. Representative samples of leaves were also sun-dried for subsequent scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analyses in an attempt to locate silica on the leaves. Both forms of mechanical defense (toughness and silica) were found to be at work in the plants at La Pacifica. Fracture toughness varied significantly by location within single leaves, indicating that measures of fracture toughness must be standardized by location on food items. Monkeys made some food choices based on fracture toughness by avoiding the toughest parts of leaves and consuming the least tough portions. Intergroup and seasonal differences in the toughness of foods suggest that subtle differences in resource availability can have a significant impact on diet and feeding in Alouatta palliata. Intergroup differences in the incidence of silica on leaves raise the possibility of matching differences in the rates and patterns of tooth wear.