SOCIOCULTURAL DETERMINANTS OF MEAL SIZE AND FREQUENCY

Total energy intake and the frequency and size of meals are profoundly influenced by the sociocultural context in which it occurs. Simply ea ting with one other person increases the average amount ingested in me als by 44% and with more people present the average meal size grows ev en larger. The impact of social facilitation of energy intake on the i ndividual appears to result from genetic effects both on the individua ls' sensitivity to the presence of other people and also on the number of other people an individual tends to eat with. Culture markedly aff ects the choice of foods in the diet and the pattern of meals over the day. However, many of the social, psychological and physical variable s that influence intake are similar across cultures.