Influences on Food choices
social reasons
it is proven that when we are around our friends we tend to eat more, and our food choices might change as well based on the people we surround ourselves with. We tend to pick on our friends' eating habits and develop them into our own
if you're surrounded by friends that have healthy eating habits and eat healthy meals, then you'd do the same and also eat healthy and nutritious meals
But on the other hand, if you're surrounded by friends with unhealthy eating habits that always want to eat out, or don't eat healthy meals then that will also have an effect on you.
Interaction with others shapes one's attitudes and behaviors towards food choices. In addition, our cravings for certain foods can change depending on who we're with and what they're eating.
some social interactions that contain unhealthy foods are
birthday parties
Subtopic
weddings
going to the mall
going to the movies
Emotional: emotions can have a huge effect on your food choices, some people use food as a way of coping or comfort and tend to respond to their emotions with food.
Some people respond to feelings of anxiousness, stress, or sadness with overeating or eating unhealthy foods as a way of coping and comfort. It helps provide them with a short-term feeling of comfort but can develop into a serious issue with negative healthy consequences.
my comfort food
my comfort food
Others respond to feelings of happiness to eating healthier and following a healthier and more nutritious diet. They will also become more likely to follow healthy habits like working out or following a strict healthy diet.
when I am in a good mood, I would have more energy to prepare healthy meals and put effort into ensuring that they contain enough of all the right nutrients.
Boredom leads some people to unconsciously overeating any foods that are readily available to them which is considered a type of emotional eating. This can be a huge contributor to weight gain and obesity.
when youre watching a movie
when you're eating while on your phone
Psychological Needs
Food can have a psychological meaning behind them based on the way that a person was raised and the food habits they develop as they grow up.
Food is a reward: many children were rewarded with foods as a form of discipline. Those children develop the habit of seeing food as a reward and as a form of comfort and security.
Other children grow up with food being a punishment for bad behavior or they are denied certain foods. These children can develop a bad relationship with food later on in life
Some people grow up eating a certain meal with their loved ones that they later develop that meal into their comfort food.
My family's comfort food
Physical
Different people require different amounts and types of foods depending on their physical needs. And based on the different physical factors, a person might need to eat less or more than others, or eat certain types of nutrients.
age: the amount of food that we need to consume decreases as we get older. This is because of the many changes that happen in the body with age such as slower gastric emptying, altered hormonal responses, decreased basal metabolic rate which can also contribute to lower energy intake
BMI
Gender: women often need higher intake of fruits and vegetables and dietary fibre and low intakes of fat. Therefore due to my gender there is a huge importance to consuming highly nutritious foods that contain
Hunger
Hunger is the physical sensation to tell your brain its time to eat
The senses
seeing food and deciding whether its appetizing or not
smelling food and being drawn to its aroma and seeing if it smells familiar
tasting a food and deciding whether or not you like the flavor
hearing foods that have familiar sounds
touching foods and they feel right or familiar by the texture
Media
Media can have a huge impact on the foods that we decide to eat, based on the food that we view and are most exposed to on the media, would determine the foods and diets we decide to eat. Because of social media, most people are exposed to the different advertising techniques that encourage them to buy certain foods.
celebrity endorsment
Trends on the media
pancake cereal
feta pasta
food comercials
billboards
Cultural Factors
Many peoples food choices change based on their cultural backgrounds or their religions
Religion: Many religions encourage eating certain foods or choose not to eat other foods. For example, some religions discourage the consumption of meat or alcohol.
Culture: People from different cultural backgrounds eat different foods, based on what their ancestors liked and disliked, their food preferences result in patterns of food choices within a cultural or regional group. Many food items and meals have a meaning attached to them.
kebbeh
Baklava