Politics of Food & Nutrition

Politics of Food & Nutrition

Politics of Food & Nutrition

Introduction

Food choices are influenced by many factors, age, gender, friends, family, cultural background and where we live. Although the main purpose of food is to nourish the body, food means far more than that to many people. It can represent much of who and what we are.

People bond and foster relationships around the dinner table and at celebrations with special meals and foods, such as birthday cake. Some people express their creative side by serving dinner guests, as well as expressing their awareness and appreciation for others. Some people also use food to help them cope with stress by overeating or depriving themselves. Food may also be used as a reward for accomplishing a specific goal. Consequently, what people eat can reveal much about who they are socially, politically and religiously.

In this research paper we on the social determinants of food behaviour among British men and women. Previous study (Roos et al., 1996) showed that only small differences existed in nutrient intake but more evident differences in food consumption according to educational level. If we look only at nutrient intake we cannot conclude that those with higher educational level had a healthier diet, which has been found in other studies. If, however, we look at food intake we can conclude that those with higher socioeconomic status preferred modern healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables, but ate less of traditional healthy foods, such as potatoes and bread. It was difficult to compare the nutrient and food quality of the overall diet between different socioeconomic groups, because we used only single nutrients and food items in the analyses. We also find it difficult to draw conclusions without including other social factors, such as employment status and family status in the analyses.

Discussion

It has recently been noted that “any concept of health lifestyles needs to go beyond an emphasis on socioeconomic status to focus on alternative status variables such as age and gender, that provide a structure to health practices” (Cockerham et al., 1997). There is an extensive literature addressing quantitative aspects of the relationship between socioeconomic status and diet, but other alternative social status variables have rarely been included, the only exception being gender. Family and diet is, however, a common area of research, but studies typically use a qualitative approach with small numbers of selected subjects(Calnan 1994).

The predominant approach in research on men's health and health related behaviours has been a structural one devoting attention to their socioeconomic status, employment status and material living conditions. For women role analysis has been predominant, particularly in the United States. According to this type of analysis women's family status, that is their marital status, parental status and domestic roles, determine their health and health related behaviours. However, contrasting hypotheses have been put forward concerning the significance of family status and domestic roles in addition to women's other roles: whether multiple roles as a spouse, a mother and an employee ...