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Olstad, D.L., S.I. Kirkpatrick, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, March 2021

While language focusing on food consumption as an individual behavior encourages interventions to educate individuals to make better choices, language of eating practices and patterns invokes a socioecological frame that regards consumption practices as enmeshed within broader social contexts. Shifting language away from individual behaviors may more effectively address the root causes of unhealthy eating patterns, encourage sustained dietary change, and reduce dietary and health inequities.