Social Influences on Eating Behaviors in Youth
Summary
Youth eating behaviours are not solely driven by individual preferences or nutritional knowledge but are profoundly shaped by the social environments in which children and adolescents develop. Family members establish early dietary patterns through parental modelling and rules, while siblings contribute additional normative frameworks. As children mature, peers assume a central role, exerting influences that can encourage both healthy and unhealthy food choices through mechanisms such as observational learning, social facilitation and perceived norms. Emerging research highlights the impact of digital media and descriptive norm messaging on food intake, demonstrating that virtual peer interactions can modify consumption even in structured settings. These social influences operate across diverse cultural contexts, affecting consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, snack foods, fruits and vegetables, and are associated with both obesity and undernutrition. Understanding these multifaceted interactions is crucial for developing interventions that leverage positive social dynamics and mitigate adverse peer effects, with potential applications in school curricula, family-based programmes and digital health campaigns.
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Technical terms
Social modelling: The process by which individuals imitate the eating behaviours of peers or family members through observation.
Descriptive social norm: Perceived common behaviour within a reference group that influences individual decision-making.
Energy-dense foods: Foods containing high amounts of calories relative to their weight or volume.
Peer effect: The influence that individuals of similar age or social status exert on each other’s behaviours.
References
- Do Peers Matter? Unhealthy Food and Beverages Preferences among Children in a Selected Rural Province in China. Foods (2023).
- The influence of peers′ and siblings′ on children’s and adolescents′ healthy eating behavior. A systematic literature review. Appetite (2020).
- Encouraging children to eat more fruit and vegetables: Health vs. descriptive social norm-based messages. Appetite (2016).
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