Early poverty disrupts link between hunger and eating

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/afps-epd020316.php

Public Release: 4-Feb-2016
Early poverty disrupts link between hunger and eating
Association for Psychological Science

How much you eat when you're not really hungry may depend on how well off your family was when you were a child, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

"Our research shows that growing up poor promotes eating in the absence of hunger in adulthood, regardless of one's wealth in adulthood," explains psychological scientist Sarah Hill of Texas Christian University. "These findings are important because they suggest that a person's developmental history may play a key role in their relationship with food and weight management."

•••••

"We were surprised by the lasting impact that one's childhood environment plays in guiding food intake in adulthood," says Hill. "We were also surprised by the fact that one's level of wealth in adulthood had almost no impact on patterns of food intake."

•••••