Attitude, Behaviour, and New Habit Formation for Taking Good Dietary Habits From System 2 to System 1

Abstract

Prevalence of poor dietary habits is a significant contributor to various health issues. Bad eating choices are ingrained in the intuitive and impulsive mode of thinking (System 1) and efforts to promote health information primarily target the analytical mode of thinking (System 2). How can healthy dietary habits consumption decisions be taken so that the same decisions are made when system 1 kicks in? Studies show that when behavior is habitual it occurs automatically and persists irrespective of the achievement of the goal. This chapter therefore advocates an approach to facilitate change of habit through the cue response mechanism. Various factors that influence habit formation - attitude, strength of motivation to form new habit, inhibitory control, reward salience, strength of conditioned responses (i.e. old habitual behavior) and influence of surroundings and peers are taken into consideration and strategies drawn leading to longevity of the habit formed. This provides a promising avenue for developing interventions to form healthy eating habits.