Factors of Eating Habits - Assignment Example

 Eating Habits Introduction Eating habits are influenced by various factors and different conditions. Some of the factors are personally imposed while others are beyond a person’s control. There is another category of people who adopt certain eating habits based on their lifestyles. It is important to categorise different people’s eating habits depending on the factors that result in these habits. This paper concentrates on Australia’s people, their eating habits and the reasons behind it. Through this study, it will be possible to unearth what good eating habits are and how people can be encouraged to eat healthy. Shopping For Food and Cooking Meal My shopping for food is mostly influenced by health consciousness. I keenly watch on what I eat as many foods are unhealthy thereby causing numerous complications and even high chances of suffering from certain ailments. I primarily avoid junk and industrialized foods which usually cause unnecessary weight gain that leads to obesity. Many are the times that I buy expensive but healthy foods. Most of the junk foods come cheap and are sold at convenient locations. These are some of the reasons that make many people prefer them over healthy foods e.g. vegetables which are found deep in supermarkets. I also take considerable care while cooking the different foods that I buy reason being that cooking changes the nutritional value of many foods especially vegetables and others that contain vitamins. If I was not conscious of what I eat the diet would be comprised of sweet and unhealthy foods which I crave for but highly avoid in upholding a healthy lifestyle (Commonwealth Department of Health and Aging, 2005). If The Amount of Money I Use On Food Doubles The most likely scenario, after the money I spend on food is doubled, is that I would eat healthier foods of various varieties e.g. fruits. The reason is that there are some varieties of healthy foods that are too expensive for the food budget. Therefore, with double the amount I use on food, I would shop for the most nutritious food that I can afford. Some of the food I currently consume is not as nutritious but I still buy it since the healthy foods of choice are currently beyond my financial capability. It is, therefore, my wish to eat all that is healthy and beneficial to the body. Food and Eating Related Behaviours There are various eating habits that assist in staying healthy and in saving money. Some of them are quite important while others are not. Among the most important ones include avoiding junk foods, checking the nutritional value of all parked food products before buying and following the healthy eating experts’ instructions among others. Among the not so important eating habits are taking light lunch and heavy dinner, foregoing lunch altogether, taking a lot of liquids (not necessarily water) and having an eating schedule among others. Avoiding junk foods is crucial since they are well known to lead to many hazardous conditions like obesity. Avoiding such foods reduces the risk of suffering from diabetes, hypertension and heart conditions among others. On the other hand, foregoing lunch is not considered as an important eating habit because it has little effect on a people’s health. Many of those who wish to lose weight take up this habit thinking failure to take lunch will bear results. They forget that the body in turn picks up the habit of storing more for use during starvation periods of the day i.e. lunch time. It is essential to take more breakfast than lunch but not to skip lunch altogether (New life, 2009). Vegetarian Diet People may choose a vegetarian diet because most of the meat varieties contain fats and calories which are a known to cause adverse health conditions. This means that a person may decide to do away with meat related health effects. It is also known that meat, especially red meat, is not the best source of proteins for the body. This makes people involved in activities that require a lot of proteins like the athletes to avoid meat and instead consume either white meat or plant proteins then some cereals, which are usually rich in carbohydrates. Therefore, some people chose to be vegetarians for their health benefit, which is after all their own responsibility. Meat or its varieties e.g. pork or beef is also prohibited by some religions. Therefore, people who profess such faiths become vegetarians so as to be true to their religious teachings. There are also people who are compassionate about animals and have moral principles of avoiding any kind of meat and other animal products. They fail to take meat as a sign of respect to animals and to discourage people from slaughtering animals for meat or other products like fur, skin, horns etc (Australian Institute of Sports, 2011). Factors in Determining the Choice of Food While Shopping The most important factors that influence my shopping include nutritional value of foods, cost, expiry and the manufacturing company. Among the factors that influence my shopping but are not that important include packaging, branding, size and trends. Nutritional value is a vital consideration since some foods are of very low nutritional value thereby adding nothing to the body. Furthermore, there are some components in some manufactured foods e.g. preservatives that are harmful if consumed in large quantities and for a long time. Therefore, I try as much as possible to pick the foods that have sufficient nutritional value and which can cause no harm to my health whether in the short term or long term. On the other hand, trends are categorized as not that important while shopping for food stuffs reason being that it is not wise to buy certain foods simply because they are popular or are new in the market. This happens mostly with manufactured foods and fast foods where a company develops a new product and gives it a fancy name. Another consideration is that people react differently towards different foods; some suffer from allergies and others find them totally unappealing (Advameg, 2011). Influence on My Diet The factor that mostly affects my diet is the health impact of the food at the table. The reason is that I keenly watch over my health hence chose wisely on what I put in my mouth. On the other hand, culture does not in way influence my eating habits. There is no kind of food that I stay away from based on my cultural background. I am also not obliged to take any particular food just because it is popular in my culture (Australia, 2008). The primary guide to my diet is, therefore, the value of the food towards my wellbeing. Food Frequency Questionnaire The questionnaire perfectly captured my usually dietary intake over the past month. This is because I provided information on all the factors surrounding my eating habits in a comprehensive manner. For instance, I gave information on the serve of fruits I eat in a day. This is quite important since fruits are usually a major part of my diet. Therefore, the questionnaire collected the most vital parts of information surrounding my eating habits (Bryant, DeWalt, Courtnet and Schwartz, 2003). People from a Different Culture People from different cultures would comfortably copy my eating habits since what I base my diet on is not where I come from, but how healthy or beneficial is the food on the table. It is also the wish for people to remain healthy and avoid health complications and with healthy eating habits, this is quite possible. For instance, many people eat a lot of fruits and vegetables just like I do irrespective of their cultural backgrounds. Therefore, for people whose aim is to remain healthy through healthy eating habits, my habits will perfectly fit unless their budgets fail to accommodate some aspects. Change of Food If I had to personally prepare all the food that I consume, I would ensure that all components are beneficial to my body. This means that I would remove all the junk and unhealthy foods from my diet. I would, therefore, only be eating that food which adds nutritional value to my body. The other change is to strictly follow a balance diet; this is what many people, me included, fail to do. Although one may eat nutritious foods, the meal may not be balanced. People are driven more by what they feel like eating rather than what they need to eat. Following a balanced diet means that each plate would have the right amounts of the different nutrients required by the body at any given time (Corecruitment, 2011). Serves Of Vegetables and Fruits I usually ensure that I take approximately 5 serves of vegetables and two serves of fruits as recommended by Australia Dietary guidelines. This is also because besides the recommendations of the Dietary guidelines, many other health experts recommend similar serves of vegetables and fruits on daily basis. I, therefore, try as much as I can to follow the experts’ recommendations for my own health benefits and to avoid health related ailments and complications (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1995). This habit has seen me live a healthy lifestyle as far as eating is concerned. Increase in Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables There are people who do not consume enough amounts of fruits and vegetables because of financial constraints. The prices of fruits and vegetables are relatively high in many outlets. Thus it is important for the prices of fruits and vegetables to be reduced so that everybody can easily afford to take the recommended quantities. Another way of increasing people’s consumption of fruits and vegetables is mounting massive campaigns aimed at educating on their importance especially in respect to disease prevention and smooth functioning of body organs. Studies have shown that many people suffer from ignorance of the roles that fruits and vegetables play as far as immunity and metabolism is concerned (Yes Australia, 2011). Conclusion Eating habits are influenced by various factors which include the health value of foods. However, many people do not watch after their health and thus eat everything that for which they crave. On the other hand, the health conscious people take time to thoroughly go through the foods they purchase so as ensure consumption of healthy and balanced diets. From this study it is clear that all people, irrespective of their cultural backgrounds, are in pursuit of healthy lifestyles emanating from healthy eating habits. In the current dynamic world, what one buys and consumes is not majorly dependent on their cultural background but the nutritional benefits that the food has. References Advameg, (2011). Australia. Retrieved 9 Nov 2011, http://www.foodbycountry.com/Algeria-to- France/Australia.html Australia (2008). Australian food and drink. Retrieved 10 Nov 2011, http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-food-and-drink Australian Bureau of Statistics (1995). National nutrition survey: foods eaten, Australia. Canberra: AGPS. Australian institute of sports, (2011). Vegetarian eating. Retrieved 8 Nov 2011, http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/factsheets/special_diets2/vegetarian_eating Bryant, C. A., DeWalt, K. M., Courtnet, A., & Schwartz, C. A., DeWalt, K. M., Courtnet, A., & Schwartz, J. (2003). An introduction to food and society. 2nd Ed., South Melbourne: Thomson Wadsworth Corecruitment, (2011). Australia’s healthy eating culture. Retrieved 9 Nov 2011, http://www.corecruitment.com.au/australias-healthy-eating-culture/ Commonwealth Department of Health and Aging, (2005). Food for health dietary guidelines for australians. Canberra:Commonwealth of Australia. New life, (2009). What do Australians eat? Retrieved 9 Nov 2011, http://www.start-a-new-life in-australia.com/what-do-australians-eat.html#axzz1crjM1fuL Perth Clinic, (2011). Eating disorders. Retrieved 11 Nov 2011, http://www.perthclinic.com.au/treatmentprograms/eating.asp Yes Australia, (2011). Australian eating habits. Retrieved 12 Nov 2011, http://www.yesaustralia.com/Estilo-comida1ing.htm Read More