CULTURE AND MEAL PATTERNS - A COMPARISON OF THE FOOD-INTAKE OF FREE-LIVING AMERICAN, DUTCH, AND FRENCH STUDENTS

In order to establish the generalizability or cultural specificity of the factors that influence the ad libitum eating patterns of free-livi ng humans, the eating behaviors of 26 French, 140 American, and 50 Dut ch university students were measured with a diet diary technique. Mark ed cultural differences were present in the amounts, composition, diur nal rhythm, and pattern of intake. In comparison to the French and the Americans, the Dutch ate considerably more overall and ingested a lar ge number of small meals separated by relatively short intervals. They ate with more other people present, for a longer duration at a slower rate, with larger deprivation ratios and smaller satiety ratios, and had more food remaining in their stomachs at the beginning of the meal . Even with these differences the univariate or multivariate correlati ons between meal size or the aftermeal interval with the time of day, the number of people present, the subjective state of hunger, the stom ach contents, and the premeal interval were quite similar between nati onalities. These relationships varied in magnitude especially when hun ger self-ratings, the time of day, or the aftermeal interval were invo lved, but, the directions of the relationships were in all cases the s ame. These results suggest that, although cultural effects permeate th e eating pattern, many of the social, psychological and physical varia bles that influence intake are similar across cultures. (C) 1997 Elsev ier Science Inc.