Eating behaviours

Outline two A02 points that can be made about research/theories into our attitudes towards food (8 Marks)

AO2 Strength

+ There has been research which supports cultural influences on food preferences. For example Flight did a study which compared 2 groups of Australian high school students aged 12-18 from both remote and city areas. The study found those in cities had greater exposure to cultural diversity and were far less afraid to try new foods compared to those from remote areas.

+ This would therefore suggest that exposure to different cultures can influence ones attitude towards food as those exposed to different cultures on a daily basis were far more experimental.

+ The explanation of culture is further supported by the research conducted into religious practices. For example Muslims are not allowed to eat pork as it is considered unclean. This shows how religion can restrict ones diet through religious beliefs and therefore impact their food preferences as a result.

+ Due to the fact that culture influencing attitudes towards food have been widely supported by other researchers, it can be argued that the theory has high external reliability and validity. This makes the theory more scientific as increased reliability makes it easier to establish a cause and effect relationship and we…