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Eating is far from an individual activity. Our food choices, opinions, habits and even preferences are heavily influenced by our peers around us, often subconsciously. Tonight's talks from feeding experts delve into how our eating behaviour is influenced by those around us, and how this begins very early on in life.
Why you are what your friends eat
Professor Suzanne Higgs
(Professor in the Psychobiology of Appetite, University of Birmingham)
What influenced your choice of lunch today? How hungry you were? What looked good to eat in the shop? We like to think food choices are personal but our friends and wider social connections also influence what and how much we eat. From eating to impress, to copying the food choices of others, our diet is more socially influenced than we think. Why is this and what are the implications for healthy eating?
"Say, Greens!" How facial expressions guide our eating behaviour
Katie Edwards
(PhD Researcher, Aston University)
Most people do not eat enough vegetables. From a young age, we must learn to like eating vegetables because they are usually less preferred. One way in which we learn what, and what not, to eat is by watching and copying the eating of others. This talk will discuss how humans use other people's facial expressions to guide their eating.
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