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Cited by 673Nutrition, Health and Food BehaviorFood, Nutrition, and Cultural PracticesEating Disorders and Behaviors

Attitudes to Food and the Role of Food in Life in the U.S.A., Japan, Flemish Belgium and France: Possible Implications for the Diet–Health Debate

ROZIN, P, FISCHLER, C, IMADA, S, SARUBIN, A, WRZESNIEWSKI, A·1999·Appetite
DOI 10.1006/appe.1999.0244
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Abstract

For human beings, food is a critical contributor to physical well being, a major source of pleasure, worry and stress, a major occupant of waking time and, across the world, the single greatest category of expenditures. This is a first study of the way food functions in the minds and lives of people from four cultures. Adults and college students from Flemish Belgium, France, U.S.A. and Japan were surveyed with questions dealing with beliefs about the diet-health link, worry about food, the degree of consumption of foods modified to be "healthier" (e.g. reduced in salt or fat), the importance of food as a positive force in life, the tendency to associate foods with nutritional vs. culinary contexts, and satisfaction with the healthiness of one's own diet. In all domains except beliefs about the importance of diet for health, there are substantial country (and usually gender) differences. Generally, the group associating food most with health and least with pleasure is the Americans, and the group most food-pleasure-oriented and least food-health-oriented is the French. In all four countries, females, as opposed to males, show a pattern of attitudes that is more like the American pattern, and less like the French pattern. In either gender, French and Belgians tend to occupy the pleasure extreme, Americans the health extreme, with the Japanese in between. Ironically, the Americans, who do the most to alter their diet in the service of health, are the least likely to classify themselves as healthy eaters. We conclude that there are substantial cross-cultural differences in the extent to which food functions as a stressor vs. a pleasure. These differences may influence health and may partially account for national differences in rates of cardiovascular diseases (the "French paradox").

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  • The French scored the highest on a measure of general positivity towards food compared to the United States.

    “the French scored the highest on a measure of general positivity towards food, compared to the United States.”

    From Food attitudes and well-being: The role of culture (2016) · cites this paper as Rozin et al. (1999)

  • Previous cross-cultural studies have found differences in food attitudes; for example, Americans are more concerned about weight gain than people from France and India.

    “Previous cross-cultural studies have found differences in food attitudes. For example, Americans are more concerned about weight gain than people from France and India.”

    From Food attitudes and well-being: The role of culture (2016) · cites this paper as Rozin et al., 1999

  • Other cultures are significantly less concerned about their weight than the United States.

    “Taking the United States as a comparison group, other cultures seem to be significantly less negative about the food they eat and significantly less concerned about their weight.”

    From Food attitudes and well-being: The role of culture (2016) · cites this paper as Rozin et al. (1999)

  • American subjects believe that diet has a stronger effect on cancer, obesity, and heart disease than French subjects.

    “American subjects believe that diet has a stronger effect on cancer, obesity, and heart disease than French subjects (Rozin et al., 1999)”

    From Food attitudes and well-being: The role of culture (2016) · cites this paper as Rozin et al., 1999

  • Other cultures are significantly less negative about the food they eat than the United States.

    “Taking the United States as a comparison group, other cultures seem to be significantly less negative about the food they eat and significantly less concerned about their weight.”

    From Food attitudes and well-being: The role of culture (2016) · cites this paper as Rozin et al. (1999)

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Authors
ROZIN, P., FISCHLER, C., IMADA, S., SARUBIN, A., & WRZESNIEWSKI, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Hiroshima Shudo University (JP)
  • University of Michigan (US)
ORCID
Venue
Appetite
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1999-10
Volume
33
Issue
2
Pages
163-180
ISSN
0195-6663 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1006/appe.1999.0244
OpenAlex
W2169180945
Cited by
673
References
25
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 27
FWCI
7.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Appetite (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food, Nutrition, and Cultural Practices
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
Keywords
food attitudes, food enjoyment, nutritional stress, cross-cultural comparison, gender differences, French paradox, cardiovascular disease, Japan, United States, Belgium, France
MeSH terms
Adult, Attitude to Health, Belgium, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cultural Characteristics, Diet, Female, Food, France, Health Surveys, Humans, Japan, Life Style, Male, Nutritional Status, Sex Factors, United States

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