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Eating Behavior and Obesity: Behavioral Economics Strategies for Health Professionals
Podcast available online at www.jneb.org
New Resources for Nutrition Educators
BOOK Eating Behavior and Obesity: Behavioral Economics Strategies for Health Professionals. Heshmat S. 2011. Springer Publishing Company, 11 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036-8002. Paperback book, 242 pp, $65, ISBN: 978-08261-0621-6. This unique volume is the first to apply behavioral economics, the integration of psychological and economic knowledge, to the study of eating behavior. The text demonstrates how this discipline can be used to understand why it so difficult for individuals to control their eating habits and helps readers use this knowledge to create and improve public health nutrition programs and policies.— Springer Publishing Company This resource focuses on the relationships between dietary choices/obesity and biological, psychological, and social factors with an emphasis on decision making, self-control, and economics of food choice. The intent is to prepare readers to use behavioral economics strategies in effective public health nutrition programs and policies. Behavioral economics is a relatively new concept, perhaps best known by nutrition educators for ‘‘nudging’’ children in school cafeterias to make healthy choices by making the healthy choice the easy choice. It is used as a framework to understand problematic eating behaviors to allow for the formulation of more effective preventive or control strategies. Food choices that contribute to obesity are characterized as errors or biases incorporating concepts of irrationality, lack of willpower or control, and self-interest. Twelve chapters focus on basic concepts regarding eating behavior
from biological, psychological, economic, and social perspectives. The first 2 chapters include information about the prevalence of obesity and biological and behavioral factors influencing dietary intake that may already be familiar to nutrition educators. Chapters 3–6 present economic concepts and the role of economics in decision making, including availability, food cost, time pressure, technological advances, consumer lifestyle choice, socioeconomic disparities in obesity, food choice, and time preferences. The next 5 chapters address food addiction, overeating, relapse, and self-control strategies, and the last chapter discusses implications for policy change. The intended audience includes professors and students in public health and related programs, and policy makers. A strength of the book is the comprehensive coverage of economic
and other factors that influence food choice from the perspective of developing possible prevention strategies. However, for practitioners, few specific examples of strategies and ideas for immediate application were included. This book addresses a timely issue, as recent studies have begun to show the effectiveness of behavioral economic strategies in improving eating behavior of children in schools and adults in various settings. The author presents an accurate view of the relationship between factors influencing eating behavior and obesity in a readable format for the intended audience. Overall, this book presents sound information from an economic perspective that may be new to nutrition educators, but much of the material regarding biological and behavioral factors may not be new to JNEB readers. Those who work or teach in the area of public health promotion may find this book useful as supplementary reading for intermediatelevel health promotion courses, or for a better understanding of how economic principles may be applied to eating behaviors that contribute to obesity. Marla Reicks, PhD, RD, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave, St. Paul, MN 55108 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2012.08.005
Cite this article as Reicks M. Eating Behavior and Obesity: Behavioral Economics Strategies for Health Professionals [New Resources for Nutrition Educators]. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013;45:383.e1.
Inclusion of any material in this section does not imply endorsement by the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Evaluative comments contained in the reviews reflect the views of the authors. Review abstracts are either prepared by the reviewer or extracted from the product literature. Prices quoted are those provided by the publishers at the time materials were submitted. They may not be current when the review is published. Reviewers receive a complimentary copy of the resource as part of the review process. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013;45:383.e1 Ó2013 SOCIETY FOR NUTRITION EDUCATION AND BEHAVIOR
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Volume 45, Number 4, 2013
383.e1
New Resources for Nutrition Educators
BOOK Eating Behavior and Obesity: Behavioral Economics Strategies for Health Professionals. Heshmat S. 2011. Springer Publishing Company, 11 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036-8002. Paperback book, 242 pp, $65, ISBN: 978-08261-0621-6. This unique volume is the first to apply behavioral economics, the integration of psychological and economic knowledge, to the study of eating behavior. The text demonstrates how this discipline can be used to understand why it so difficult for individuals to control their eating habits and helps readers use this knowledge to create and improve public health nutrition programs and policies.— Springer Publishing Company This resource focuses on the relationships between dietary choices/obesity and biological, psychological, and social factors with an emphasis on decision making, self-control, and economics of food choice. The intent is to prepare readers to use behavioral economics strategies in effective public health nutrition programs and policies. Behavioral economics is a relatively new concept, perhaps best known by nutrition educators for ‘‘nudging’’ children in school cafeterias to make healthy choices by making the healthy choice the easy choice. It is used as a framework to understand problematic eating behaviors to allow for the formulation of more effective preventive or control strategies. Food choices that contribute to obesity are characterized as errors or biases incorporating concepts of irrationality, lack of willpower or control, and self-interest. Twelve chapters focus on basic concepts regarding eating behavior
from biological, psychological, economic, and social perspectives. The first 2 chapters include information about the prevalence of obesity and biological and behavioral factors influencing dietary intake that may already be familiar to nutrition educators. Chapters 3–6 present economic concepts and the role of economics in decision making, including availability, food cost, time pressure, technological advances, consumer lifestyle choice, socioeconomic disparities in obesity, food choice, and time preferences. The next 5 chapters address food addiction, overeating, relapse, and self-control strategies, and the last chapter discusses implications for policy change. The intended audience includes professors and students in public health and related programs, and policy makers. A strength of the book is the comprehensive coverage of economic
and other factors that influence food choice from the perspective of developing possible prevention strategies. However, for practitioners, few specific examples of strategies and ideas for immediate application were included. This book addresses a timely issue, as recent studies have begun to show the effectiveness of behavioral economic strategies in improving eating behavior of children in schools and adults in various settings. The author presents an accurate view of the relationship between factors influencing eating behavior and obesity in a readable format for the intended audience. Overall, this book presents sound information from an economic perspective that may be new to nutrition educators, but much of the material regarding biological and behavioral factors may not be new to JNEB readers. Those who work or teach in the area of public health promotion may find this book useful as supplementary reading for intermediatelevel health promotion courses, or for a better understanding of how economic principles may be applied to eating behaviors that contribute to obesity. Marla Reicks, PhD, RD, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave, St. Paul, MN 55108 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2012.08.005
Cite this article as Reicks M. Eating Behavior and Obesity: Behavioral Economics Strategies for Health Professionals [New Resources for Nutrition Educators]. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013;45:383.e1.
Inclusion of any material in this section does not imply endorsement by the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Evaluative comments contained in the reviews reflect the views of the authors. Review abstracts are either prepared by the reviewer or extracted from the product literature. Prices quoted are those provided by the publishers at the time materials were submitted. They may not be current when the review is published. Reviewers receive a complimentary copy of the resource as part of the review process. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013;45:383.e1 Ó2013 SOCIETY FOR NUTRITION EDUCATION AND BEHAVIOR
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Volume 45, Number 4, 2013
383.e1