Examining Food Motivations in the US: Cross-Cultural Comparisons Between Comfort Food Preferences

Eating behavior and food motivation within the US are strongly associated with stress and health concerns. Although Americans reported to be intentional and mindful eaters in regards to health, ironically, they did not report themselves to be healthy individuals. This suggests that Americans may be excessively stressed about health-oriented food behaviors despite conflicting reports of healthy eating. To understand eating behaviors, food motivation and associations of the US were examined cross-culturally with France who reported the most dramatically different food behaviors compared to the US, and other countries through comfort food preferences. In the US, food associations with stress have influenced food to function negatively on health and wellbeing. In other countries such as France, food is associated with intrinsically rewarding food experiences shared with others, acting as a positive reinforcer in hedonic experiences. As a result, other countries experience better health and wellbeing and do not report the same stress and food associations observed in America. Findings suggest that changes in cultural attitudes of food and association to excessive stress and weight related concerns may result in a healthier and better quality of life as observed in other cultures and countries. Keywords: eating, food behavior, food motivation, cross-cultural, ethnic, comfort food, United States, France, health, wellbein