Food Choices

Risk factors for adult chronic diseases

(e.g., hypertension and type 2 diabetes) increasingly seen in younger ages, often a result of unhealthy food choices > subsequent weight gain > obesity > chronic disease.

poor food choices

**leads to rise in obesity and subsequent prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases. ⁃Often consuming more calories than are expended leads to a positive energy balance that leads to weight gain. ⁃Increased energy intake, which is the result of food choices, recognized as a dominant driver of the rise in obesity.

How does the US rank in life expectancy among develop nations?

9th

Food choices are associated with chronic diseases.

True

What is the foundation/underpinning of good health?

good nutrition

•Influences

interconnected ideals, personal factors, resources, social framework, and food context that lead individuals to make food choices:

choice

opportunity or privilege to freely choose

Choice options

⁃Good choices -- decisions that keep you heading in the direction you want to go ⁃Bad choices -- counterproductive, resulting in stress, confusion, and despair

How is the US workforce affected by food choices and health.

The U.S. workforce is plagued with absenteeism and reduced productivity attributed to chronic health problems, including depression and obesity.

Choices in the short term/more info

•Choices can please in the short-term but may incrementally steer one off course over the long term •Any choice involves at least two options, both of which have pros and cons associated with them.

⁃Unhealthy eating habits have contributed to the obesity epidemic in the United States

Statistic: about 1/3 of U.S. adults (33.8%) are obese.

poor food choices short term

Food intake leads to good taste, satiation, and pleasure that food can bring.

factors that influence food choices

***Complex interaction between the social and environmental context, individual, and food. ⁃Habitual behaviors ⁃Familiarity with a food so have prior experience ⁃Attitudes and expectations influence acceptability and choice ⁃Persistent negative expectations or stereotypes (e.g., critical evaluations of cafeteria food)

aversions/strong dislike of food

***Influenced by prior experiences. •Chemical senses play important roles due to their ability to easily make strong associations. Olfactory associations (smell), followed by gustatory (taste), appear to be the most common reason for food aversions. •Learn early in life, primarily based on olfactory cues, how to identify an item with respect to its edibility. Preferences are formed throughout life and begin even before birth by flavors in the amniotic fluid from the mother's food intake.

poor food choices long term

-Obese individuals are stigmatized, bullied, experience chronic diseases (e.g., type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease), and life expectancy decreases. ⁃Obesity (and overconsumption) puts a long-term burden on healthcare costs.

10 Tips: Make Better Food Choices

1.Find out what you need -- Get personalized nutrition information based on your age, gender, height, weight, and physical activity level. The My Plate Plan provides your calorie level and shows how much you should eat from each of the five food groups. 2.Enjoy your food but eat less -- Use a smaller plate at meals to help control the amount of food and calories you eat. Take time to enjoy smaller amounts of food. 3.Strengthen your bones -- choose foods like fat-free and low-fat milk, cheese, yogurt, and fortified soymilk to help strengthen bones. Be sure your morning coffee includes fat-free or low-fat milk. 4.Make half your plate fruits and vegetables -- add fruit to meals as part of main or side dishes. Choose red, orange, or dark-green vegetables like tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli, along with other vegetables for meals. 5.Drink water -- sip water or other drinks with few or no calories to help maintain a healthy weight. Keep a water bottle in your bag or at your desk to satisfy your thirst throughout the day. 6.Eat whole grains more often -- Choose whole grains more often. Foods with a high-fiber content can help give you a feeling of fullness and also provide key nutrients. 7.Learn what is in foods -- Use both ingredient and Nutrition Facts labels to discover what various foods contain. 8.Cut back on some foods -- Cut calories by cutting out foods high in solid fats and added sugar. Limit fatty meats like ribs, bacon, and hot dogs. Choose cakes, cookies, candies, and ice cream as just occasional treats. 9.Be a better cook -- Try out healthier recipes that use less solid fat, salt, and sugar. Eat at home more often so you can control what you are eating. If you eat out, check and compare nutrition information. Choose healthier options such as baked chicken instead of fried chicken. 10.Be active whenever you can -- Set a goal to fit in at least 2½ hours of moderate physical activity in your week. Being active 10 minutes at a time also adds to your weekly total. Ask your friends or family to keep you company as you bike, jog, walk, or dance. Don't forget to do some muscle strengthening activities twice a week.

what percentage of healthcare expenditures are for the treatment of chronic disease - type II diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.

78%

Childhood dietary habits can carry into adulthood, so teaching children about making healthful food choices could help them stay healthy throughout their life.

true

determinants of food choices

•Biological determinants ⁃satiety signals (macronutrients, energy density of diets) ⁃palatability (taste, smell, texture, sound, and sight) •Economic elements ⁃cost and income ⁃availability •Attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge •Psychological determinants -- stress, mood •Environment/Situation •Social characteristics ⁃culture ⁃family ⁃peers and meals patterns •Structural determinants ⁃access ⁃education ⁃food variety ⁃cooking facilities ⁃skills ⁃time

consumer decision making

•Consumers make food choices for many different reasons: ⁃Pleasure, nutritional value, new experiences, show who they are ⁃Consumers have to make a lot of choices involving multiple trade-offs so resort to making simplified decisions.

Psychological Stress

•Effect of stress depends on the stressor, circumstances, and the individual. •When experiencing stress, some cannot rationally control food intake - unrestrained emotions may lead to increased or. reduced food. •Examples of stressors: -Reduced/increased concern about weight control, -Reduced appetite caused by the processes associated with stress, and -Practical changes in eating opportunities, food availability, and meal preparation may explain stress-induced changes in eating and food choice. •Attempts to restrict intake of certain foods can increase the desire for that food.

Environmental or Situational Factors

•Effort -- increased effort to obtain a specific food can lead to decreases in food selection of that food, often increasing selection of another food to take its place.•Other People -- presence of other people leads to increased consumption, probably because meals are longer when eaten with other people present. •Food Packaging -- information contained on the package •Food Display -- placement of the food in relation to other products can influence selection. •Ambience -- décor, design, and visual and auditory elements of the food.

Ecological models

•Environmental contexts may have a different impact on different individuals. -Food truck in the neighborhood selling ice cream on a hot summer day may have a different impact on an individual with a strong intention to eat healthful foods versus a family with children walking by. •Food policies or regulations may also have a different impact on different people. -Soft-drink tax has a different impact on people with a low socio-economic position, compared with those with a high socio-economic position. -Calories posted on menus.

decision making

•Human decision-making can be divided into two categories— ⁃highly conscious, deliberate, high effort decisions OR ⁃semi-conscious, spontaneous, simplified decisions. •Most food choices are semi-conscious. ⁃Consumers do not spend a lot of time making food decisions, they ignore a lot of the information available and base decisions on a few key criteria. ⁃Typical key criteria are price and brand; many choices based on habit.

foods that require more energy

•Large ruminant animals (e.g., cows, goat, sheep) ⁃Emissions if forest land is converted into grazing land. ⁃Methane is released from their digestion and manure. •Seafood ⁃Open-ocean fishing fleets depend entirely on fossil fuels. ⁃Highly sought-after fish (i.e., bluefin tuna and swordfish) are typically overfished, resulting in additional sea travel and increased emissions. •Highly processed foods ⁃More steps in the production process means more energy used. •Imported foods ⁃More fossil fuels used when transporting food over long distances.

personalized technology

•Many mobile applications aim to help consumers make food choices. •These apps mostly result increasing information load rather than reducing it. •If apps are to reduce information load, they need to be personalized.

Food neophobia

•Overwhelming fear of new or unfamiliar foods •Different from picky eating because the fear lies in the items that are new or unfamiliar. Someone who is a fussy eater often avoids common foods they are very familiar with. •Food neophobia is when preferences are overwhelming, phobic, and likely to have a social impact (e.g., avoiding meals and situations with unfamiliar food) and subsequently impact nutritional status.

senses

•Palatability (i.e., pleasure) depends on the sensory properties of the food (taste, smell, texture, sound, and sight) and may influence food choice as it is proportional to the pleasure experienced when eating a particular food. •Food shape, dimension, and color are qualities that generate expectations of odor, freshness, texture, temperature, maintenance, and edibility.

Food Choices Based on Name of Food

•Popularity of vegetable dishes varied significantly depending on the name. •Healthy restrictive ones (e.g. 'lighter choice' 'free from' 'low-sodium') were least popular, while indulgently named ones were more popular. •Not only were the indulgently named vegetable dishes selected by more people, they were also taken in larger portions.

food choice and sustainablilty

•Sustainability -- avoidance of the depletion of natural resources to maintain an ecological balance. •More people concerned about (1) food production practices and (2) the impact a growing global population has on the earth's resources. •Generation Z (born 1993 or after): ⁃aware of their impact on the earth so make food choices that are natural, organic, and sustainable. ⁃preferences have driven an increased interest in vegetarianism, natural foods, and local sourcing.

Satiety (Feeling full)

•The balance between hunger, appetite stimulation, and food intake is regulated by the central nervous system. •Macronutrients -- carbohydrates, proteins, and fats -- generate satiety signals of varying strength ⁃Fat seems to have the lowest satiating power ⁃Protein has been found to be the most satiating •Energy density of diets has been shown to influence satiety ⁃low-energy-density diets generate greater satiety ⁃high-energy-density diets.

•Attitudes and beliefs conditioning food choices related to:

⁃individuals' sense of social and personal identities (e.g., ethnicity, religion, social class, living arrangement, health status, gender, and marital status), ⁃health, ⁃sensory appeal, ⁃mood and weight control, ⁃quality and freshness of food, ⁃price, ⁃cooking skills ⁃resistance to change.

influences on food choices

⁃physiological and psychosocial impulses; ⁃both a conscious and an unconscious process; and ⁃affected by both internal and external forces.