1.6. Nutritional awareness and responsibility Flashcards
Why can nutritional awareness and information vary depending on country?
because health campaigns and messages from governments vary from country to country eg. Healthy Eating Pyramid in Hong Kong, Eat-Well Guide in the UK provde different ideas
What is obesity?
-when a persons body mass index (BMI) is over 30 kg/m^2 (obtained by dividing persons weight by the square of their height)
-is life threatening and greatly impact health
What is overweight?
when a persons BMI is between 25-30.
Is less serious than obesity but can still have health implications
What does BMI do and what are its limitations?
measures a person’s body fat by considering their height and weight
-Acts as a guide and estimations vary depending on age and gender.
-however can be inaccurate and has liitations as outliers can occur eg. a large, muscular rugby player would be classed a obese according to a BMI calculation, although they perfectly healthy.
How can obesity and overweight people affect public health services?
-Is an example of a chronic food related issues- If a large % of the population are overweight/ obese then it puts strain/ pressure on public health services- so can be used to track public health
-Damaging as it has many related health conditions as a consequence related to it- osteoporsis, strokes, hypertension, heart disease, eating disorders.
-Therefore causes more health condtions that coud’ve been prevented if the individual wasn’t overweight/ obese
How can government help prevent strain of chronic food related issues on the health services?
- raise public awareness of diet related issues and promote healthy eating and lifestyle, to reduce the number of people requiring treatment and lower the impact upon health services
What are acute food related illnesses and how do they affect health services?
-eg. a food poisoning oubreak and can also put pressure on the health services
How can the government help prevent the strain of acute food related issues on the health services?
-control and monitor hygienic practices throughout all aspects of the food industry, through bodies such as the Food & Environmental Health Portfolio in Hong Kong, and the Food Standards Agency, in the UK and by having environmental health officers.
- raise awareness of have good hygienic practice. To try and minimise the number of outbreaks and lessen the impact upon health services.
Examples of government campaigns to raise awareness of health risks and promote good public health
-Couch to 5k app- encourages beginners to start running
-NHS food scanner app- scan food and offers you healthier alternatives of that product
-Change4life- encourages schools and families to increase activity in children and prevent obesity
Modifiable vs non modifiable health factors?
Modifiable- can be changed eg. lifestyle and diet, eg.smoking, activity levels, sugar intake
Non modifiable- can’t be changed eg.gender, age, SES, genetics, living environment
What is consumer protection
the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace.
What is consumer protection
the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace.
How do political and economic factors affect consumer protection?
