Nutrition and Behavior

Within the past decade there has been a veritable explosion of interest in the relationship between food and human behavior. It seems that there is an insatiable desire to find connections between what we eat and what we do. A clear example of this is the proliferation of books, magazine and newspaper articles, and television and radio programs devoted to the topic. More important, however, is the increased attention the scientific community is giving to the study of nutrition and behavior as evidenced by the growth of research, the development of undergraduate and graduate programs, and the number of scientific conferences addressing the prob- lems in this area. The burgeoning scientific interest in this field makes it a very appropriate time for this book. The principal goal of Nutrition and Behavior: New Perspectives is to provide a comprehensive examination of the scientific evidence dealing with relationships between nutritional variables and behavior. Although findings in research using experimental animals will be introduced, the primary emphasis will be on investigating the nutrition-behavior relation- ship in our own species. The first chapter provides a historical introduction to the area and examines the techniques used in the scientific assessment of nutrition and behavior. This material gives the reader the necessary background to place recent research on nutrition and behavior within a wider perspective and to evaluate its reliability and validity.