UNDERSTANDING INFLUENCES UNDERLYING EATING BEHAVIORS
THE BE FED LAB
Our lab seeks to better understand the complex and dynamic factors that influence eating behaviors.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES
Historically, research that sought to understand the development of disordered eating and clinical eating disorders focused on the role of the environment. For example, these studies focused on how maternal behaviors (e.g., enmeshment with the child) and/or the larger sociocultural environment (e.g., cultural pressures for thinness) impacts the development of eating disorders.
GENETICÂ INFLUENCES
While essentially all individuals within Western cultures are exposed to cultural pressures to be thin to some degree, only approximately 1-3% of individuals development clinical eating disorders. Since the 1980s, twin and family studies have highlighted the important contribution of genetic influence to our understanding of who develops problematic eating.
BROADER SOCIETAL FACTORS
While familial and relational environmental factors have long been linked to disordered eating, more recent data has highlighted a consistent and strong connection between broader societal factors and disordered eating. Indeed, food insecurity and neighborhood disadvantage are associated with elevations in eating pathology. More work is needed in this area as populations experiencing these environmental stressors have largely been underrepresented in the eating disorder literature.
GENETIC X ENVIRONMENT INTERPLAY
Taken together, it is likely a complex interaction between both proximal and distal environmental influences and genetic influences that contribute to the development of problematic eating. By modeling both the contribution of environmental factors and genetic risk, we can develop a better understanding of who is most suspectible to problematic eating and the most effective targets for prevention and intervention.
CONTACT US
University of Toledo
2100 Gillham Hall
2915 W Bancroft St, Toledo, OH 43606
