A Theory of Food Exploration with Gender Differences: Childhood Eating Habits and Implicit Food Attitudes.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The growing interest in nutritional psychology has sparked explorations into how eating habits impact one's emotional, cognitive, and physical health. The Theory of Food (ToF) posits that childhood eating patterns shape food choices in adulthood, influenced by cognitive and associative representations formed early in life. This study explores the relationship between specific childhood eating habits-fruit and snack consumption-and implicit attitudes toward these food groups in adulthood. It also investigates whether this relationship differs by gender.

METHODS

One hundred and nineteen participants completed a recall questionnaire about their childhood eating habits and an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess implicit attitudes toward food groups. The primary hypotheses were that greater fruit consumption in childhood would lead to more positive attitudes toward fruits, and higher snack consumption would result in more favourable attitudes toward snacks.

RESULTS

The results did not support the initial hypotheses, indicating no direct relationship between the consumption of fruits or snacks in childhood and implicit attitudes in adulthood. However, further analyses revealed a significant difference in implicit attitudes toward fruits below versus high childhood fruit consumption participation, particularly among women.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the complexity of the relationship between childhood eating habits and implicit food attitudes. While no direct associations were found for the overall sample, the significant differences in attitudes based on childhood fruit consumption in women suggest gender-specific patterns. These results emphasize the need for further research to unravel the intricate connections between early eating behaviours and later food attitudes.