The Importance of Habits in Eating Behavior - Assignment Example

Food Habit Assignment Student’s Name: ID Number: Date: Introduction Every society throughout the world has unique food habit. In most cases, it may be as a result of socio-cultural influence. The aim of this essay paper is to examine existing food habit among Australians. It also touches on which foods and why they prefer eating them. Like any other society, Australians have unique eating habit which is the core determinant of their health and social welfare. It is important to note that several factors influence eating habit and frequency. These include economic, cultural and social aspects which form the basis of our daily food habit hence forming the basis of this paper. Q.1 Questions 1 & 2 in the Food and Diet Questionnaire ask about shopping for food and cooking meals. How would your diet change if your answer to these questions changed? Please explain. I believe my diet would change for the better since most of the time I only shop for ready-made foods. When one cooks his own meals, it is obvious that he uses his favourite ingredients which may be healthier than when eating food prepared by someone else. Most processed foods are not healthy due to low nutritional value (Cappelletti, Corse, Kinney, Lapalme, Sandygren, Scribner, & Berry, 2010). When one prefers to shop and cook the food at home, most likely he picks the best and natural foods that have high nutritional value. Cooking is also another issue that affects food quality in terms of nutrients. Some nutrients are affected by excessive heat and this happens in the process of cooking. Of course not many people understand this reality hence we end up eating low quality food (Ross, McMahon, & Bernstein, 2013). It is easier to control this when cooking for yourself that when someone else is doing it. Q.2 If you had twice as much money to spend on food each week, how would this affect the foods you eat? Please explain. Availability of money is an essential aspect that influences food habit. Having more money implies that one has sufficient to eat high quality food more frequently. Usually, high nutritious food is expensive and only those who have sufficient money can afford. If I had more money to spend on food, I would definitely go for healthier food everyday hence improving my diet. Having much money for food means I can afford to eat natural food frequently. Less money forces someone to eat food he or she can afford which may not be her preference (Riet, Sijtsema, Dagevos, & Bruijn, 2011). Q.3 Question 7 asks you to rate the importance of many food and eating related behaviours. Pick two of the behaviours and explain why you answered the way you did. Select behaviours you rate as either ‘very important’ or ‘not important’. You should use references to show whether your belief was correct or not. a) Substituting white meat (poultry) for red meat is very important. Consumption of white meat is healthier than red meat. Although both have nutritional benefits, there are various reasons why food experts prefer white meat. One of the essential benefits of white meat is low concentration of cholesterol and fats. Cholesterol and fats are potential causes of heart disorders among other ailments (Joshi, Corral, Catsburg, Lewinger, Koo, John, & Stern, 2012). In respect of this fact, nutritional experts advise people to substitute white meat for popular red meat. b) Avoiding adding salt to your food at the table is very important. Excessive consumption of salt raises the blood pressure hence increasing exposure to various heart diseases as well as stroke. It is important to reduce intake of salts to prevent this unfortunate health risk. Most of the foods that we eat on daily basis such as breaks and cereals among others contain salt. This means that there is no need for extra salt in our foods (Willett, 2011). Adding salt to your food at the table is risky due to high concentration of sodium. Q.4 Explain (with references) 2 reasons why people may choose a vegan diet. Then list 2 nutrients that vegan diets are often missing, and suggest an acceptable vegan food source for these 2 nutrients. People may adopt vegan diet for environmental and health purposes. To keep animals for food is not sustainable since it requires space, water and feeds. Animals consume a lot of water which can be used for other purposes. Feeds production also has serious impact on environment as well as production of animal products. In addition, consumption of animal products such as red meat has potential health risk (Young, 2012). It is therefore better to adopt vegan diet. Vegan diet lacks vitamin B12 and calcium which are essential for health. Mostly vitamin B12 is common in animal products but vegans may source it from foods that are fortified with these nutrients. These include soy milk and cereals supplements. Calcium is also present in plants such as spinach although it has oxalate which inhibits the same nutrient. Vegans may get sufficient supply of calcium in soy yoghurt and almonds (Zimmer, Lange, Frick, Sauer, Zimmermann, Schwiertz, & Enck, 2012). Q.5 Question 9 asks you to rate the importance of various factors in deciding your choice of food when shopping. Pick two of the factors that you rated either ‘not important’ or ‘extremely important’. Please explain your answer. There are two factors that are extremely important in deciding on which food to buy from the shop. These factors include price and quality & freshness of the food. Price is the most determinant factor that influences personal choice especially in purchasing. Normally, many people struggle to budget for limited amount of money against unlimited needs. In this case, affordability of the food is essential aspect to consider when shopping. Quality and freshness of the food you purchase from the shop also matter a lot. Quality implies nutritional value while freshness refers to duration of time since it is extracted from the source. The quality of the food deteriorates with time hence its freshness (Ross, McMahon, & Bernstein, 2013). When food is fresh, nutritional value is usually high. Food that has overstayed in shelves may have low nutritional value which may not benefit the body hence no value for the money you spend in buying the product. Q.6 Look at your answers to questions 11-19. Of the answers you have given, please explain which ONE has the most influence on your diet. For example, does your ethnicity determine the type of food you eat, or you living arrangements, or your age etc.? Please explain your answer. Full time employment is the most influential factor that determines my diet. This implies that there is reliable source of income which provides sufficient purchasing power. With purchasing power, one is able to choose what he or she wants to eat. Note that many people are forced by economic circumstance into consuming sub-standard food. They lack sufficient purchasing power due to low income level. It is essential to note that high quality foods in most cases are expensive (Willett, 2011). If someone does not have enough money to purchase, he may not access nutritious food hence possible risk of malnutrition. Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) Q.7 How well do you think the food frequency questionnaire captured your usual dietary intake over the past month? Please explain, giving specific food examples that support your explanation. This questionnaire is able to fairly capture my usual dietary intake for over the past month. It was successful in addressing frequency of food intake such as milk, meat, grains and fruits. Response to the questionnaire actually reflects on dietary intake for the last month although it has been consistent for more than one year. This includes intake of drinks and fruits as well as vegetables on daily basis. Meat and grains I supplement depending on the type of vegetable I am serving although I take meat only twice and sometimes thrice a week and this is reflected in questionnaire. Q.8 Do you eat a similar diet to your parents? If not, explain why not. If so, give a brief list of the key features of the food culture your family follows. To some extent, there is a dietary similarity in my parent’s food and mine. This may be as a result of culture whereby when one is living with parents, there is a common food that they prepare. This is most likely to develop interest in such food hence adopt the same even when one no longer lives with them. One of the key features in the food culture is vegetables and fruits. These are main ingredients of the family diet thus most members tend to develop passion for them. This has continued to this day such that diet seems to have similar features. Q.9 How would the types of food you ate change if you had to grow and prepare all the food you eat? Check the foods you eat often in the food frequency questionnaire to use as examples in your answer. Types of food may not really change since it becomes a culture when one gets used to certain food. This is so especially when the food is healthy and is readily available in the market. The only aspect that might change is the frequency of intake. When one has to prepare the food, frequency reduces especially when he is working and studying at the same time. Vegetables and fruits are the main foods in my diet since I inherited the food culture from my parents. However, I only take them in my breakfast and in the evening meal. Q.10 How many serves of vegetables do you usually eat each day (question 4 in the FFQ)? How many serves of fruit do you usually eat each day (question 5 in the FFQ)? The new Australian Dietary Guidelines have separate fruit and vegetable intake recommendations for males and females of different ages (see table below). Comment on your intake compared to the recommendation for your age group and gender. Vegetables and fruits are part of my diet in almost every meal. This happens particularly when I prepare the food myself. I eat two serves of fruits and vegetables each day. Although this is below the recommended frequency, it is still within the range of healthy eating habit. The guidelines suggest that male should consume at least six serves each day. This pattern calls for discipline since one must sustain it throughout. According to these guidelines, my eating habit and frequency lacks consistency. In the light of this, there is need for adjustment on this diet to match the recommended frequency. Q.11 The most recent national survey in Australia found a daily average intake of 3.4 serves of vegetables and 1.1 serves of fruit in adults (3). How do you think this intake could be increased to meet the recommendations? It is important to first analyse real factors that affect eating habit and frequency. In most cases, people do not have sufficient time for eating. This is due to tight schedules during the day such that they are too busy in their work related activities. In this case, people should be advised to set aside time for eating particularly during the day. In addition, significant percentage of population lacks sufficient money to purchase food. To meet the recommendation, earning should increase to allow sufficient budget for food. This will bridge the existing gap between the eating habit and recommended behaviour. Conclusion Eating habit determines one’s body health as well as length of life. People who eat well live longer since their state of health is better than those who do not eat well. It is important to ensure that one adopts healthy eating habit. Many people ignore vital aspects of healthy diets such as intake of vegetables and fruits. Some also ignore experts’ recommendation on diet and nutrition. It is extremely important to adopt the right diet as recommended by the nutritional experts. Reference Cappelletti, C., Corse, L., Kinney, A., Lapalme, S., Sandygren, N., Scribner, D., ... & Berry, P. (2010). Nutrition and Social Eating Habits Among Seniors Living Independently. Joshi, A. D., Corral, R., Catsburg, C., Lewinger, J. P., Koo, J., John, E. M., ... & Stern, M. C. (2012). Red meat and poultry, cooking practices, genetic susceptibility and risk of prostate cancer: results from a multiethnic case–control study. Carcinogenesis, 33(11), 2108-2118. Riet, J. V. T., Sijtsema, S. J., Dagevos, H., & De Bruijn, G. J. (2011). The importance of habits in eating behaviour. An overview and recommendations for future research. Appetite, 57(3), 585-596. Ross, D., McMahon, K., & Bernstein, M. (2013). Discovering nutrition. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Willett, W. (2011). Eat, drink, and be healthy: the Harvard Medical School guide to healthy eating. Simon and Schuster. Young, L. R. (2012). Vegan Diet Preventing Recurrence of Breast Cancer. Zimmer, J., Lange, B., Frick, J. S., Sauer, H., Zimmermann, K., Schwiertz, A., ... & Enck, P. (2012). A vegan or vegetarian diet substantially alters the human colonic faecal microbiota. European journal of clinical nutrition, 66(1), 53-60. Read More

a) Substituting white meat (poultry) for red meat is very important. Consumption of white meat is healthier than red meat. Although both have nutritional benefits, there are various reasons why food experts prefer white meat. One of the essential benefits of white meat is low concentration of cholesterol and fats. Cholesterol and fats are potential causes of heart disorders among other ailments (Joshi, Corral, Catsburg, Lewinger, Koo, John, & Stern, 2012). In respect of this fact, nutritional experts advise people to substitute white meat for popular red meat. b) Avoiding adding salt to your food at the table is very important.

Excessive consumption of salt raises the blood pressure hence increasing exposure to various heart diseases as well as stroke. It is important to reduce intake of salts to prevent this unfortunate health risk. Most of the foods that we eat on daily basis such as breaks and cereals among others contain salt. This means that there is no need for extra salt in our foods (Willett, 2011). Adding salt to your food at the table is risky due to high concentration of sodium. Q.4 Explain (with references) 2 reasons why people may choose a vegan diet.

Then list 2 nutrients that vegan diets are often missing, and suggest an acceptable vegan food source for these 2 nutrients. People may adopt vegan diet for environmental and health purposes. To keep animals for food is not sustainable since it requires space, water and feeds. Animals consume a lot of water which can be used for other purposes. Feeds production also has serious impact on environment as well as production of animal products. In addition, consumption of animal products such as red meat has potential health risk (Young, 2012).

It is therefore better to adopt vegan diet. Vegan diet lacks vitamin B12 and calcium which are essential for health. Mostly vitamin B12 is common in animal products but vegans may source it from foods that are fortified with these nutrients. These include soy milk and cereals supplements. Calcium is also present in plants such as spinach although it has oxalate which inhibits the same nutrient. Vegans may get sufficient supply of calcium in soy yoghurt and almonds (Zimmer, Lange, Frick, Sauer, Zimmermann, Schwiertz, & Enck, 2012). Q.5 Question 9 asks you to rate the importance of various factors in deciding your choice of food when shopping.

Pick two of the factors that you rated either ‘not important’ or ‘extremely important’. Please explain your answer. There are two factors that are extremely important in deciding on which food to buy from the shop. These factors include price and quality & freshness of the food. Price is the most determinant factor that influences personal choice especially in purchasing. Normally, many people struggle to budget for limited amount of money against unlimited needs. In this case, affordability of the food is essential aspect to consider when shopping.

Quality and freshness of the food you purchase from the shop also matter a lot. Quality implies nutritional value while freshness refers to duration of time since it is extracted from the source. The quality of the food deteriorates with time hence its freshness (Ross, McMahon, & Bernstein, 2013). When food is fresh, nutritional value is usually high. Food that has overstayed in shelves may have low nutritional value which may not benefit the body hence no value for the money you spend in buying the product. Q.6 Look at your answers to questions 11-19.

Of the answers you have given, please explain which ONE has the most influence on your diet. For example, does your ethnicity determine the type of food you eat, or you living arrangements, or your age etc.? Please explain your answer. Full time employment is the most influential factor that determines my diet. This implies that there is reliable source of income which provides sufficient purchasing power. With purchasing power, one is able to choose what he or she wants to eat. Note that many people are forced by economic circumstance into consuming sub-standard food.

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