What factors enable or prevent people from making healthy food choices - Essay Example

? What factors enable or prevent people from making healthy food choices? Introduction The modern society is captured by mass media web. Different ads are broadcasted on TV, in magazines and online promoting junk food. As a matter of fact, representatives of different social classes make their choices and buy this unhealthy food. Hamburgers, fried potatoes, fried fish and chicken have substituted cereal and fresh fruits. There are different factors influencing on such kind of choices. This research paper is focused on social, economical and psychological factors influencing on an individual when he prefers unhealthy food or factors that prevent him from making healthy food choices. Moreover, we would focus our attention on the most vulnerable group subjected to this risk. It is an ethnic minority group living in America and UK. On the basis of researches in the field of obesity around the world and behavioral risk factors among ethnic minority group, we would discuss social and psychological factors influencing on representatives of ethnic minorities making unhealthy food choices. Business infrastructure of UK and America offers numerous restaurants and fast foods for the American nation. A conspicuous consumption of junk food is the first reason for obesity. Why do Americans make such kind of choice and damage themselves? Of course, availability and affordability of fast foods is the first reason for a choice of unhealthy food. Especially this claim is relevant to ethnic minorities, which mainly consist of people with low income, a low level of education about healthy foods and restricted possibilities of physical activities (Powell, 2004). Moreover, people with low income work hard and have little time to cook a healthy food. It is more convenient for them to buy cheap and tasty hamburgers and be fed up. Unfortunately, the abundance of calories in this type of food influences on the abundant weight of people. Moreover, it can cause blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and other illnesses. More than half of American population would soon become obese and 10 percent of UK children are obese currently (Baggott, 2004). Therefore, not only people with low income eat junk food. People who have money often find it more convenient to eat on foot, because they do not have enough time to take care of themselves. Nevertheless, unlike poor people, they are able to visit good restaurants and thus they have more possibilities to eat healthy and tasty food. The rest of people are subjected to external influence of their closest environment. In case a family prefers junk food it is rather hard to have an ability to eat healthy food. As we have already noted, healthy food has a higher price and it takes time to boil vegetables or to cook them in the oven. Moreover, it is on behalf of an individual to decide whether he would consume healthy food or not. Behavioral factors play a great role at this point. Thus, it depends on an individual’s ability to resist to external pressure in case he is suggested to eat some unhealthy food. If he was brought up as a strong-willed person then he would resist eating unhealthy food for sure. At this point the supposition that social or economic status of a person is prevalent in his choice making of whether to consume unhealthy food or not can be questioned. Nevertheless, statistical data obtained from Department of Health and Human service (2000) shows that individual is being gradually destructed when he is starting to make a choice of unhealthy food (Powell, 2004). He becomes indifferent to his appearance and is becoming an obese person, who then starts avoiding social communication with people around him. Therefore, an individuality of an obese person suffers from his/her inability to take control over his/her gustatory pleasures. Very often such kind of people is emotionally unstable and starts eating huge amounts of unhealthy food in the result of a personal stress, failures or other reasons. The governmental measure taking should be even better, if it created favorable conditions for people with low income to buy healthy food. In other words, it would be more economically sound to provide people with efficient salaries and work out convenient working hours that would allow these people to buy and to cook healthy food for them and their families. In accordance with the studies based on statistical data collection from governmental websites offering information about risky behavior among ethnic minorities, people aged 18 and elder express their negative attitude to healthy food; show an indifferent attention to physical activities and prefer conspicuous junk food consumption (Troiano & Flegal, 1998; Powell et al, 2004). Moreover, such kind of studies show that socioeconomic status of representatives from ethnic minorities directly influences on their choices of an unhealthy food. On the other hand, there are studies witnessing that socioeconomic status does not directly influence on junk food consumption among ethnic minorities in UK and America. Therefore, environmental and psychological factors influence on people’s attitude to unhealthy food as well as socioeconomic status. For example, in case there are no enough places for physical activities or active rest (e.g. stadiums, parks, etc) people would suffer from a low level access to the active recreational places. Moreover, there are also communities helping obese people to get rid of the abundant weight. For example, Well London initial community makes an attempt to regulate unhealthy food choices among youth and propagates a healthy diet. This community works out healthy food eating and cooking classes and suggests inexpensive recipes as well as gives a piece of advice how to cook healthy food quicker and make it tastier (Katz and Peberdy, 2000). Concerning educational level, it should be noted that this factor also influences on healthy food consumption. For example, in case parents are aware of a destructive influence of junk food, they take preventive measures against obesity and involve their children in the process of healthy food cooking. Thus, there is a direct correlation between the limited access for healthy food and educational level of parents or the whole families (Troiano & Flegal, 1998). There are some ways out of this problem. It should be solved on the governmental and local levels. On the governmental level American government introduces such programs as the Food Stamp Program; the Summer Food Service Program; the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program and others (Powell et al, 2004). There are also such kind of programs in the UK. For example, well-being and healthy way of life is propagated in the UK in White City. A combination of physical activities and healthy food programs are being conducted during a month (Creative Well-Being). . Though critics claim that it is only a temporal solution of the problem, it should be noted that these programs give a chance to people with low income to get acquainted with healthy food free of charge. Moreover, government is responsible for a proper informing the nation about a destructive power of unhealthy food and propagating healthy food and way of life. On the local level, families are responsible for dealing with the problem of unhealthy food choices. It would be interesting for a child to clean or chop or boil vegetables or fruits. The bright colors of fruits in combination with funny ornament would amuse children. Shop time or mealtime should be also spent together by the family members. In such a way, children and parents would mutually set rules for healthy way of life living and healthy food consumption. In case measures taken for healthy life propagation are taken on the family level, individuals would gradually transform into people consuming healthy food. Conclusion As far as we can see, an ability to choose healthy or unhealthy food depends directly on family traditions of food consumption, behavioral and psychological peculiarities and also socio-economic factors. In order to shift accents in the world’s from unhealthy to healthy food consumption the government should propagate healthy way of life and perform campaigns directed on affordability and availability of healthy food for people with low income or representatives of ethnic minorities. The focus group of the research paper is the most vulnerable target population subjected to unhealthy food consumption risk. Nevertheless, it is relevant to the government to propagate healthy way of life among representatives of different social classes in the name of the healthy countries and nations. Works cited 1. Baggott, R. (2004). Health and health care in Britain. Basingstoke, McMillan. 2. Creative Well-Being for all generations. [online]. Available at: 3. Katz, J. and Peberdy, A. (eds.), (2000). Promoting health: knowledge and practice. 2nd ed. Buckingham, OU. 4. Powell, L.M., Slater, S., Chaloupka, F.J. (2004). The relationship between physical activity settings and race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Evidence-Based Preventive Medicine, 1(2), 135–44. 5. Troiano, R.P & Flegal K.M. (1998). Overweight children and adolescents: description, epidemiology, and demographics. Pediatric, 101,497–504. Read More