title: The determinants of food choice.
abstract: Health nudge interventions to steer people into healthier lifestyles are increasingly applied by governments worldwide, and it is natural to look to such approaches to improve health by altering what people choose to eat. However, to produce policy recommendations that are likely to be effective, we need to be able to make valid predictions about the consequences of proposed interventions, and for this, we need a better understanding of the determinants of food choice. These determinants include dietary components (e.g. highly palatable foods and alcohol), but also diverse cultural and social pressures, cognitive-affective factors (perceived stress, health attitude, anxiety and depression), and familial, genetic and epigenetic influences on personality characteristics. In addition, our choices are influenced by an array of physiological mechanisms, including signals to the brain from the gastrointestinal tract and adipose tissue, which affect not only our hunger and satiety but also our motivation to eat particular nutrients, and the reward we experience from eating. Thus, to develop the evidence base necessary for effective policies, we need to build bridges across different levels of knowledge and understanding. This requires experimental models that can fill in the gaps in our understanding that are needed to inform policy, translational models that connect mechanistic understanding from laboratory studies to the real life human condition, and formal models that encapsulate scientific knowledge from diverse disciplines, and which embed understanding in a way that enables policy-relevant predictions to be made. Here we review recent developments in these areas.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh,George Square,Edinburgh,EH8 9XD,UK.
authors.forename: Gareth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.affiliation: Department Translational Neuroscience,Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht,Utrecht,The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roger A H
authors.initials: RAH
authors.lastname: Adan
authors.affiliation: European University Institute,Via dei Roccettini 9,I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole,Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belot
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol,12a Priory Road,Bristol BS8 1TU,UK.
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Brunstrom
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition,Wageningen University & Research Centre,Wageningen,Stippeneng 4,6708 WE,The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kees
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Graaf
authors.affiliation: Department Physiology/Endocrine,Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenka Academy at the University of Gothenburg,SE-405 30 Gothenburg,Sweden.
authors.forename: Suzanne L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Dickson
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, Department of Economics,University of Zurich,Bluemlisalpstrasse 10,8006 Zurich,Switzerland.
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hare
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, Department of Economics,University of Zurich,Bluemlisalpstrasse 10,8006 Zurich,Switzerland.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh,George Square,Edinburgh,EH8 9XD,UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Menzies
authors.affiliation: Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Tübingen; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.),Tübingen,Germany.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Preissl
authors.affiliation: Department of Intercultural Communication and Management,Copenhagen Business School,Porcelaenshaven 18a,DK - 2000 Frederiksberg,Denmark.
authors.forename: Lucia A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Reisch
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol,12a Priory Road,Bristol BS8 1TU,UK.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition,Wageningen University & Research Centre,Wageningen,Stippeneng 4,6708 WE,The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul A M
authors.initials: PAM
authors.lastname: Smeets
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D000072001:Diet, Healthy / Q000523:psychology; D004046:Dietetics / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D005192:Family Health; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008960:Models, Psychological; D054647:Nutrigenomics / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology; D000067074:Peer Influence; D012958:Societies, Scientific; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology
keywords:  fMRI functional MRI; Appetite; Brain imaging; Food choice; Hypothalamus; Policy; Satiety