The Physiology & Behavior Laboratory, Tel-Hai Academic College, 9977 North Districts, Qiryat Shemona 1220800, Israel.
Psychology Department, Tel-Hai Academic College, 9977 North Districts, Qiryat Shemona 1220800, Israel.
Nutrients. 2024 Jan 31;16(3):428. doi: 10.3390/nu16030428.
The study investigates the behavioral manifestations of the "Theory of Food" (ToF), a novel theoretical framework centered on the early development of food perceptions. The ToF posits that childhood experiences with food shape cognitive networks influencing adult dietary choices. Stemming from the "Theory of Mind," the ToF hypothesizes that individuals construct an associative world of food images and representations mirroring the socio-cognitive world shaped by proper theory of mind development. The study, involving 249 healthy adults, employs the Cognitive Food Preference Questionnaire (CFPQ) and the Adult Food Preference Profile (AFPP) to explore the correlation between childhood and adult food preferences across diet groups (omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans). Results reveal robust correlations in omnivores, varied patterns in vegetarians, and mixed outcomes in vegans. Notably, omnivores show correlations in grains, fast food, dairy products, vegetables, meat, soft drinks, and snack consumption. Vegetarians exhibit correlations in grains, fast food, dairy products, vegetables, snacks, and, surprisingly, meat consumption. Vegans display correlations in grains, fast food, vegetables, and snacks. The study suggests that childhood dietary habits tend to influence adult food choices, offering insights for future research in the field of theory of food (ToF).
本研究旨在探究“食物理论”（Theory of Food，ToF）的行为表现。该理论是一个以食物感知早期发展为中心的全新理论框架。ToF 假设儿童时期的食物经历塑造了影响成人饮食选择的认知网络。ToF 源于“心理理论”（Theory of Mind），假设个体构建了一个与食物相关的联想世界，反映了由适当的心理理论发展所塑造的社会认知世界。该研究涉及 249 名健康成年人，采用认知食物偏好问卷（Cognitive Food Preference Questionnaire，CFPQ）和成人食物偏好问卷（Adult Food Preference Profile，AFPP），探索了在饮食群体（杂食者、素食者和严格素食者）中，儿童期和成年期食物偏好之间的相关性。结果显示，杂食者之间存在强烈的相关性，素食者之间存在不同的模式，严格素食者之间存在混合结果。值得注意的是，杂食者在谷物、快餐、乳制品、蔬菜、肉类、软饮料和零食消费方面存在相关性。素食者在谷物、快餐、乳制品、蔬菜、零食方面存在相关性，而且令人惊讶的是，他们在肉类消费方面也存在相关性。严格素食者在谷物、快餐、蔬菜和零食方面存在相关性。该研究表明，儿童时期的饮食习惯往往会影响成人的食物选择，为食物理论领域的未来研究提供了新的见解。
