Habitual Behavior in American Eating Patterns: The Role of Meal Occasions

Based on literatures in cognitive resource conservation and contextual cue consistency, we study two types of habits-carryover and baseline-in the consumption of food nutrients. Carryover habit obtains when the level of a nutrient consumed in preceding meals influences its consumption in the current meal. Baseline habit obtains when a nutrient's consumption systematically differs across meals. We test our hypotheses via a hierarchical linear model using a food consumption diary panel. Findings support our carryover habit and baseline habit dichotomy, as well as our predictions that carryover habit is stronger at breakfast and that within-meal carryover effects are stronger than across-meal carryover effects.