Why We Eat What We Eat: The Psychology of Eating

Eating is arguably the most fundamental of human activities. In Western society in particular, there is great interest in diet, health, and food preferences. This work seeks to translate research results on the psychology of eating for health and psychology readers as well as lay readers. The volume explores the shift in eating research from the search for bodily signals that trigger hunger to a focus on eating patterns emerging from a learning process based on life experience. The text offers hope that healthy eating patterns can be learned. It proposes models for normal eating behaviour and discusses how and why eating deviates from these norms.