Dr. Guthrie's article, “Integrating Behavioral Economics into Nutrition Education Research and Practice,”
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recently published in J Nutr Educ Behav, provided nutrition educators with another perspective; one that we feel aligns with an approach published in a special J Nutr Educ Behav supplement nearly a decade ago: Eating Competence (EC). This is important because an evidence base from multiple studies with diverse samples reveals that competent eaters have higher diet quality, better sleep behaviors, lower stress, lower body mas index, more physical activity, less disordered eating and body image issues, lower cardiovascular risk, and stronger food resource management skills,2
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which are also goals of behavioral economic approaches. Eating competence operationalizes behavioral economics by building on existing skills, preferences, and attitudes in a responsible and considered fashion.Consider how each of the 4 constructs of eating competence aligns with behavioral economics.
- •EC Construct: Contextual skills. Takes time to eat; arranges rewarding and wholesome meals and snacks at regular and reliable times.
“To decrease the cognitive burden of so many decisions, …”
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EC addresses contextual skills by planning for feeding self, having regular meals, and relying on making food selection decisions before the time of eating. The default option and norms of eating competence are that eating is preplanned and deliberate, and takes into account nutritional quality.- •EC Construct: Food acceptance. Enjoys eating and is interested in trying new food.
Behavioral economics encourages “Strategies for simplifying choices and tactics such as samples and tastings that make adoption of new foods or preparation techniques seem less risky …”
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With respect to food acceptance, the active principle of EC is that of incorporating new foods into an ever-increasing food repertory through repeated neutral exposure.- •EC Construct: Internal regulation. Regulates food intake based on internal cues of hunger, appetite, and satiety.
Guthrie
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cautions that “Self-control is more likely to fail when individuals are hungry, tired, stressed, or distracted.” Eating competence encourages paying attention to oneself when eating, eating in response to hunger and appetite, and eating until satisfied. Because internal regulation responds to biopsychosocial needs, failure of self-control is not an issue.- •EC Construct: Attitude. Has positive attitudes about eating and about food.
Eating enjoyment is mentioned in behavioral economics, but as a derailer of making good decisions with immediate reward usurping healthful decisions. Eating competence does not see a “… conflict between a healthy food choice and the long-term benefits it promises vs the short-term pleasure of a tastier but less healthy choice.”
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For competent eaters, rewarding food and healthful foods are one and the same. That is, eating-competent people eat healthful foods because they enjoy them, not because they are supposed to.As Guthrie indicates, “The federal government's recently published National Nutrition Research Roadmap called for research examining how behavioral economics theories and other social science innovations can be used to develop strategies to improve eating patterns.”
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We propose that the other social science innovation be EC. The Journal has already published 2 GEMS21
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to guide educators in taking an EC approach to “… nutrition interventions to promote healthy food choices.”1
Sincerely,
References
- Integrating behavioral economics into nutrition education research and practice.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2016;
- High perceived stress is associated with unfavorable eating behavior in overweight and obese Finns of working age.Appetite. 2016; 103: 249-258
- Preliminary Finnish measures of eating competence suggest association with health-promoting eating patterns and related psychobehavioral factors in 10-17 year old adolescents.Nutrients. 2015; 7: 3828-3846
- Relationships of eating competence, sleep behaviors and quality, and overweight status among college students.Eat Behav. 2015; 19: 15-19
- Telephone and face-to-face interviews with low-income males with child care responsibilities support inclusion as a target audience in SNAP-Ed.J Commun Health. 2014; 40: 448-456
- The Satter eating competence inventory for low-income persons is a valid measure of eating competence for persons of higher socioeconomic position.Appetite. 2015; 87: 223-228
- Eat, sleep, work, play: associations of weight status and health-related behaviors among young adult college students.Am J Health Promot. 2014; 29: e64-e72
- Eating competence of college students in an introductory nutrition course.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013; 45: 269-273
- Evaluation of About Being Active, an online lesson about physical activity shows that perception of being physically active is higher in eating competent low-income women.BMC Womens Health. 2013; 13: 12
- Eating competence of Hispanic parents is associated with attitudes and behaviors that may mediate fruit and vegetable-related behaviors of 4th grade youth.J Nutr. 2012; 142: 1904-1909
- Impact of an on-line healthful eating and physical activity program for college students.Am J Health Promot. 2012; 27: e47-e58
- Diet quality is related to eating competence in cross-sectional sample of low-income females surveyed in Pennsylvania.Appetite. 2012; 58: 645-650
- Validation of a measure of the Satter eating competence model with low-income females.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2011; 8: 26
- Identifying clusters of college students at elevated health risk based on eating and exercise behaviors and psychosocial determinants of body weight.J Amer Diet Assoc. 2011; 111: 394-400
- Weight attitudes predict eating competence among college students.Fam Consum Sci Res J. 2010; 39: 184-193
- Eating competence of elderly Spanish adults is associated with a healthy diet and a favorable cardiovascular disease risk profile.J Nutr. 2010; 140: 1322-1327
- Cognitive testing with female nutrition and education assistance program participants informs content validity of the Satter Eating Competence Inventory.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2010; 42: 277-283
- Associations between eating competence and cardiovascular disease biomarkers.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2007; 39: S171-S178
- Measuring eating competence: psychometric properties and validity of the ecSatter inventory.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2007; 39: S154-S166
- Reliability of the ecSatter inventory as a tool to measure eating competence.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2007; 39: S167-S170
- Eating competence: nutrition education with the Satter Eating Competence Model.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2007; 39: S189-S194
- Hierarchy of food needs.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2007; 39: S187-S188
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Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: B. Lohse is the Director At Large on the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior's Board of Directors. Review of this article was handled, exclusively, by the Editor-in-Chief to minimize conflict of interest.
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©2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Integrating Behavioral Economics into Nutrition Education Research and PracticeJournal of Nutrition Education and BehaviorVol. 49Issue 8
- PreviewNutrition education has a long history of being informed by economic thinking, with the earliest nutrition education guides incorporating household food budgeting into nutrition advice. Behavioral economics research goes beyond that traditional role to provide new insights into how consumers make choices. These insights have numerous potential applications for nutrition interventions to promote healthy food choices consistent with the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Research to test the value of such applications can contribute to the development of evidence-based nutrition education practice called for in federal nutrition education programs.
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- Response to “A Comment on Guthrie J ‘Integrating Behavioral Economics Into Nutrition Education Research and Practice’”Journal of Nutrition Education and BehaviorVol. 49Issue 8
- PreviewI thank the author for her response to my recent article, “Integrating Behavioral Economics into nutrition education research and practice.”1 The article was a Perspective; such articles are most useful when they provoke further thought and discussion. The insights provided by this letter add to my article and continue the dialog necessary for nutrition education researchers and practitioners to develop and improve evidence-based practice.
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