The Role of Hunger in Eating Experience Among UK Adults with Varied Food-Related Identities

Hunger is a biological drive to eat to maintain homeostasis and wellbeing, but in modern society, where food is generally widely available, the link between the experience of hunger and the decision to eat is a key driver of eating behaviour. This study explores how hunger is experienced in three groups for whom eating may present challenges: athletes, mothers and vegetarians/vegans. Thirty-four participants of varying gender and age participated in interviews or focus groups, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. The three themes were: (1) relationship with hunger—mealtimes and tolerance, (2) long-term influences—identity and preferences motivating eating behaviour, and (3) transient context-dependent influences—arising influences and competing priorities. In conclusion, participants understood hunger as both physiological and psychological, and co-occurring with eating in daily life. Participants varied widely in the attention they gave to mealtimes and the degree to which they tolerated hunger, with these differences shaped by personal identity, preferences and transient circumstances. Individual accounts included examples where hunger did not lead to eating if eating was inconvenient, and eating happened in the absence of hunger where other incentives prompted or enhanced the appeal of eating. The relationship between hunger and food intake is not predictable and requires further investigation.