Adolescent boys eat unhealthy foods to impress their friends and show
how macho they are. Girls are much more health conscious, adopting healthy
diets from early adolescence. These differences emerged from a survey of
the eating habits of 700 British schoolchildren by the Institute of Food
Research in Reading.
‘Part of adolescence is to do with rebelliousness, and not being like
your parents,’ says Richard Shepherd, coordinator of the institute’s survey.
‘For boys, part of that is riding motorbikes and living dangerously, but
it doesn’t entail eating salads.’
Shepherd says that the findings of the study posed a dilemma about how
to present advice on healthy eating to boys who would probably do the reverse
to impress friends. The best strategy could be to target ‘ringleaders’
who are key opinion formers. Another strategy could be to focus on how poor
diet could affect boys’ appearance and attractiveness.