Hierarchy of food needs.

How would it look to apply the principles of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to food management? Why even wrestle with such a conundrum? The Satter Eating Competence Model (ecSatter) stresses joining with individuals right where they are and working within their constraints and circumstances. Rather than emphasizing food selection and portion sizes, ecSatter operationalizes the Dietary Guidelines by emphasizing structured opportunities to eat, and within that structure, encouraging people to eat preferred food in satisfying amounts. However, when nutrition educators attempt to apply ecSatter, many feel they are violating a deeply felt obligation to promote food-policy adherence. To resolve that dissonance, it has been useful to apply Maslow’s concepts to food selection and acquisition. Abraham Maslow arranged basic needs in order of sequential importance to the individual and taught that needs at each level must be satisfied before the individual can become aware of and address the next level of need. From the foundation through the apex on Maslow’s pyramid-shaped Hierarchy of Needs, they are: (1) physiological needs: air, water, food, shelter, sleep, sex; (2) safety, security and order; (3) social affection: love and belongingness; (4) esteem, status: self-esteem and esteem by others; and (5) self-actualization: being all the individual can be. APPLYING MASLOW TO SATTER