Teenagers try to minimise guilt when choosing what to eat — study

Guilt can arise from worrying about wasting food, spending too much money on food or eating unhealthily, a study carried out with teens aged between 16 and 17 in Wexford and Dublin indicated. File picture

Food choices for teens centre mostly around minimising feelings of guilt often linked to social pressures, body image and health, new Irish research has suggested.

Guilt can arise from worrying about wasting food, spending too much money on food or eating unhealthily, a study carried out with teens aged between 16 and 17 in Wexford and Dublin indicated.

Some concerns were expressed around the likes of opting to meet friends in a fast food restaurant due to the low costs, but then worrying about the impact of eating this food.

Dr Aisling Daly undertook the research while a PhD student at TU Dublin, and is now a lecturer in nutrition at Oxford Brookes University.

Sources of the guilt around food varied, the Wexford woman said.

“Sometimes it was from their friends, sometimes from their parents, sometimes it was internal, based on thinking ‘I don’t want to waste food’,” she said.

She recalled one teen who wanted to stop eating meat but felt they need the nutrients and reported "maybe when I finish growing I might stop eating meat" which was leading to guilt around food choices.

The study found overall “several needs and priorities are balanced in the minds of adolescents when choosing what food to eat". 

It indicates this “may help to explain why adolescents often struggle to make health-promoting food choices at certain times".

The group of 47 transition year students composed 35 girls and 12 boys.

Dr Aisling Daly, a lecturer in nutrition at Oxford Brookes University, said there were various sources of guilt around food.

“From the boys who were in the discussion, they did seem more influenced by the health benefits of physical benefits for growth for their bodies, and also for the convenience (of food), so how easy or quick it was (to access),” she said.

“They seemed to be a little bit less influenced by the social pressures. Body image does come into it for both boys and girls but it was a little bit more that the girls were feeling guilty because of the social side of food whereas boys were feeling guilty because of the physical ramifications of the food.” 

Dr Daly said public health messaging for young people could take into account their view of food and food choices.

“We need to phrase and deliver these messages in a way that allows for enjoyment of food and eating among friends in a social setting,” she said.

The study “The underlying role of food guilt in adolescent food choice” is published in the journal Appetite and co-authored with Prof. John Kearney and Dr Elizabeth O’ Sullivan.