We modified our special diet kitchen.

In this paper, the environment is defined as the macro- and community-level factors, including physical, legal and policy factors, that influence household and individual decisions. Thus, environment is conceived as the external context in which household and individual decisions are made. This paper reviews the literature on the ways the environment affects diet, physical activity, and obesity. Other key environmental factors discussed include economic, legal, and policy factors. Behind the major changes in diet and physical activity in the US and globally lie large shifts in food production, processing, and distribution systems as well as food shopping and eating options, resulting in the increase in availability of energy-dense foods. Similarly, the ways we move at home, work, leisure, and travel have shifted markedly, resulting in substantial reductions in energy expenditure. Many small area studies have linked environmental shifts with diet and activity changes. This paper begins with a review of environmental influences on diet and physical activity, and includes the discussion of two case studies on environmental influences on physical activity in a nationally representative sample of US adolescents. The case studies illustrate the important role of physical activity resources and the inequitable distribution of such activity-related facilities and resources, with high minority, low educated populations at strong disadvantage. Further, the research shows a significant association of such facilities with individual-level health behavior. The inequity in environmental supports for physical activity may underlie health disparities in the US population.

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PubMed2005

Normative influences on food intake.

Hunger and satiety have conventionally provided the framework for understanding eating and overeating. We argue that hunger and satiety play a relatively small role in everyday eating. The normative control of food intake refers to the fact that our eating is largely governed by the motive to avoid eating excessively. Dieters impose a restrictive intake norm on themselves, but often violate the norm. Personal norms are individualized rules that people develop to help themselves decide how much is appropriate to eat in a given situation. Situational norms are derived from the eating situation itself; examples include portion size and social influence, which exert powerful effects on intake. We discuss the implications of a normative approach to the analysis of eating and overeating.

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