CH. 8 Health Behaviors Eating, Being Active, Smoking, and Drinking Flashcards
Health Behaviors Eating, Being Active, Smoking, and Drinking
Health Behaviors Eating, Being Active, Smoking, and Drinking – Every health behavior (particularly what and how much we eat and how much exercise we get) is strongly influenced by a range of sociocultural factors.
Nutrition and Weight
Nutrition and Weight
What Should We Be Eating?
What Should We Be Eating?:
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) – Earliest attempts to inform consumers about how much protein, fats, and carbohydrates to consume date back to the early 1900s. The first food guide was published in 1916 and consisted of five major food groups.
FOOD GUIDE PYRAMID – Introduced in 1984 and used six food groups as a guide.
e U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) “Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health” (DHHS, 1988) – Included the recommendations of a panel of nutritional experts selected by the USDA and the DHHS.
The new guide is a plate showing you what you should eat – Showing amounts needed by age and sex, explicitly urging the consumption of more whole grains and a variety of fruits and vegetables and including simple direct recommendations such as ensuring half of the plate (daily food consumption) is fruits and vegetables.
Four factors were considered in establishing the serving sizes:
- Typical portion size
- Ease of use
- Nutrient content
- Traditional uses of foods
Different cultural groups have different traditional foods?
- To compensate for this, developed food plates for different cultural groups.
- Diverse plates feature foods specific to the different cultures. (Don’t look at them on an empty stomach because you will get hungry.)
- These different guides highlight the fact that what we eat often is deeply tied to our cultural backgrounds. Throughout history, many cultures have ascribed health-promoting powers to certain foods, and many religions have followed specific dietary practices. Chinese herbs of immortality were a popular fad among the ancient Chinese (Hsu, 2010). These herbs have a modern manifestation in Chinese herbs marketed.
- As described in Chapters 1 and 3, many cultures, including the Chinese culture, believe that some foods are hot and others are cold. This belief refers to a food’s influence on health and well-being, and not to the temperature or spiciness of foods.
- Cold foods include most vegetables, tropical fruits, dairy products, and inexpensive cuts of meat (e.g., rump roast).
- Hot foods include chili peppers, garlic, onion, most grains, expensive cuts of meat, oils, and alcohol.
MY PLATE – Balances nutritional value, cultures.
- Such as the Chinese and the ancient Indians suggested eating foods to balance energy levels.
Development of Food Preferences
Development of Food Preferences – Some of our food preferences are biologically programmed into us.
- Two of these tastes, sweet and salty, are completely innate. Humans are born preferring sweet and salty tastes and are averse to sour tastes.
- Beyond this, our experiences and exposure to food determine the bulk of our preferences.
CONTEX – Kids preferred the unlabeled chickpea chocolate chip cookies (i.e., when chickpea presence was not known) to the labeled one.
Basic reward and punishment and sociocultural factors also play a large role in the development of our food preferences.
- Children growing up in families who eat together often develop healthier eating habits—and are healthier adults too.
- Foods used as rewards or paired with fun social events or holidays automatically become preferred.
- Attach a toy related to a movie (movie tie-in) and the kids will even prefer healthy meals over unhealthy ones with the tie-in toy.
Culture plays an important role as well – The ethnicity of the parents and correspondingly ethnic food preferences also influenced what children ate.
- Sociocultural factors can predict preference for unhealthy foods.
- Take presentation there were diverging preferences regarding the preferred position of the featured main course, how the items should be organized, and whether they should be casually presented.
- Children have notably different preferences than adults.
Obesity
OBESITY – Nationally, 32% of children age 10 to 17 are overweight or obese.
- As of this writing adult obesity rates exceed 35% in five states, 30% in 25 states, and 25% in 46 states.
OBESITY** – Defined as having a **BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) of 30 or greater.
OVERWEIGHT – A BMI of between 25 and 29.9 qualifies a person as overweight.
- To calculate your BMI, multiply your weight by 703 and divide it by the square of your height measured in inches [BMI = (Wt × 703)/(Ht × Ht)].
- BMI should not be used as the only indicator of a person’s healthy weight.
- It misrepresents weight in different cultural groups.
- This misrepresentation also helps explain some inconsistencies in the eating behavior literature by demonstrating the impact of statically adjusting for BMI when BMI and eating behaviors are compared in individuals from different racial or ethnic backgrounds.
- European Americans had greater body dissatisfaction (as measured by a higher difference between current and ideal image) than Asian Americans and higher EHQ scores than both Asian Americans and African Americans.
- More African American women chose a larger body size as their ideal than the other groups.
- Asian American women had a significantly lower BMI than both other groups.
Obesity varies significantly by ethnicity – Black men have greater odds of obesity than White men.
- Hispanic men also have greater odds of obesity than White men.
- Asian men have lower odds of obesity than White men.
- Our weight increases as a natural part of the aging process.
- Obesity, however, is more than a normal addition of weight needed for growth or health.
- Chance of being obese increases with age, and obesity occurs more commonly in women than in men.
Obesity is associated with a number of health issues:
- Increases the chances of having a chronic disease,
- Exacerbates conditions such as coronary heart disease.
- Shortens life.
- Since this association is well known and interventions focusing only on health risks of obesity may provide minimal new information and induce little new weight loss.
- There is almost a direct negative correlation between BMI and mortality. The higher your BMI, the sooner you may die.
OBESITY PARADOX – It is possible that being classified as Grade 1 overweight (e.g., BMI between 25 and 30) may serve a protective function.
Both genetic and environmental factors also are at work. Genetics plays a role in obesity
- Studies show that identical twins when overfed are both likely to gain similar amounts of weight, whereas fraternal twins do not show this relationship.
- There are even specific genes linked to obesity.
- The ob gene, which codes for the protein leptin, was one of the first genes linked to obesity. Leptin signals satiety, and people with a mutated ob gene do not have as much leptin, which possibly leads to overeating.
A person’s environment factors in as well – Changes in food marketing and availability are the most recent and blatant environmental factors influencing eating.
- The influence of larger servings in restaurants is seen as one component of a Western way of life because it tends to be localized to developed countries.
- Overweight individuals actually prefer (and eat) more fat than normal weight people.
- Most people eat more if they are given larger servings.
- A greater variety of foods presented leads to greater quantities consumed by individual eaters.
SENSORY SPECIFIC SATIETY – If only one type of food is available at a meal, people eat a moderate amount of it. If a second food is then introduced, the amount of the new food eaten will be more than if it was presented by itself. This phenomenon is called sensory specific satiety.
- Even thinking that there is more variety can make you eat more.
- The cheaper the food is, the more people will eat.
- We also eat more when we are stressed or hassled.
- Most successful programs targeted children, adolescents, and females; were relatively brief; solely targeted weight control versus other health behaviors were evaluated in pilot trials; and were trials in which participants must have volunteered to participate.
- Unfortunately, studies have not found any particular diet to be successful over the long run.
- Weight control interventions are now presented with apps and over the Internet and show significant success in changing nutritional behaviors.
Eating Disorders
EATING DISORDERS – Defining characteristic of all eating disorders is a severe disturbance in eating behaviors.
- Dieting by itself has not been linked to increased eating disorder symptoms.
ANOREXIA – Involves an intense fear of gaining weight, a disturbed body image, a refusal to maintain normal weight, and extreme measures to lose weight.
- No matter how thin they get, anorexics still feel they need to lose more weight. This condition can sometimes be fatal.
BULIMIA – Involves habitually overeating followed by self-induced vomiting, fasting, and excessive exercise.
- Given the strong psychological and social components to eating disorders and possible genetic predispositions, the biopsychosocial approach of health psychologists to illness can be a great aid in preventing eating disorders.
Culture and Eating Disorders
CULTURE and EATING DISORDERS – Eating disorders are clearly influenced by culture.
- Cultures vary in their concepts of ideal body shape.
- Prevalence of eating disorders in Western countries is partially attributable to cultural ideals of beauty that value thinness.
- Eating disorders have been reported in nearly every area of the world.
- Prevalence rates of eating disorders outside North America, especially in Africa, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, and Singapore, have been found to be comparable to those in Western countries.
- Rates of eating disorders do vary by ethnicity within the United States.
- Exactly how culture contributes to eating disorders is still unclear.
- Latinas may have slightly higher rates of eating disorders than both of these ethnic groups. Asian American women have the lowest rates of eating disorders among the major ethnic groups in the United States, while Native American women have the highest rates.
- Having contact with or being influenced by Western culture significantly increases the prevalence of eating disorders.
- Western media in Fiji was associated with an increase in symptoms of eating disorders
Physical Activity
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY – Is any bodily movement produced by contraction of the skeletal muscles that increases energy expenditure above a baseline level.
HEALTH-ENHANCING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY –
- A brisk 20-minute daily walk has been found to be enough to prevent weight gain.
How much physical activity is needed?:
- The guidelines suggest that each of us should take part in at least moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week.
- Children and adolescents (6–17 years) should engage daily in 60 minutes or more of activity and do muscle and bone strengthening activities at least 3 days a week.
- Adults (18–65) should engage in 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of high-intensity activity every week.
- A key aspect to note is that this activity can be a combination of 10-minute episodes spread through the week.
- The guidelines also suggest muscle strengthening activities for all muscle groups at least twice a week.
BASAL METABOLIC RATE – About 50% to 70% of the total amount of energy we burn relates to the working of our different cells and organ systems, referred to as our basal metabolic rate.
THERMIC EFFECT OF FOOD – 7% to 10% of energy is used to break down the food we eat.
- The rest of the energy we burn through physical activity.
EXERCISE — Defined as activity planned with the goal of improving one or more aspects of physical fitness.
LEVEL OF FITNESS – Defined as the ability to perform daily tasks with vigor and alertness without undue fatigue, to enjoy leisure time activities, and to meet unforeseen challenges.
CARDIOVASCULAR ENDURANCE (AEROBIC FITNESS) – Refers to the body’s capacity to take in, transport, and use oxygen.
- A common measure of aerobic fitness is the volume of oxygen (VO2) a person uses during different tasks.
- Muscular strength, muscular endurance, muscular power, speed, flexibility, agility, balance, good reaction times, and a low percentage of body fat are other components used to assess fitness.
- Most national studies of health behaviors use physical activity rather than exercise levels to assess health.
EXERCISE – Refers to specific activities such as running on a treadmill at the gym.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY – Can be more general and unstructured (e.g., walking around the block).
- Ethnic minority groups have lower levels of leisure time physical activity.
- Leisure time physical activity was lower for African Americans and Latinos compared with European Americans, and steadily declined with lower levels of education.
Cultural Variations in Physical Activity
Cultural Variations in Physical Activity – Minority groups in the United States consistently have relatively lower physical activity levels than majority group members.
- Minority women are among the least active subgroups in American society.
- Physical activity was lowest among African Americans, American Indians, and Alaskan Natives.
- Physical activity was found to be lowest among people with low incomes and lower levels of education.
- Adolescents with a bedroom television reported more television viewing time, less physical activity, poorer dietary habits, fewer family meals, and poorer school performance.
Smoking and Drinking
SMOKING AND DRINKING – The majority of regular smokers are addicted, although many people can use alcohol socially and not become addicted.
- This difference in social use and the amount of BEHAVIORAL CUEING** explains, in part, why the relapse rates for tobacco **ADDICTION is higher than those for alcohol addiction.
- Many alcoholics can quit drinking but have more difficulty quitting smoking because smoking seems to have greater biological and psychological interactions with other health behaviors such as drinking. People who always smoke at a bar are tempted to smoke when they are at a bar.
Tabacco Use
TOBACCO USE – Knowledge alone is insufficient to change behavior.
- Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States.
- Number of smokers substantially decreased between 1993 and 2010 for all age groups, except those between age 18 and 24.
Cultural Variations in Smoking
CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN SMOKING – We see some clear-cut cultural differences in who smokes.
- Men smoke more than women.
- People who earn less and who have less education smoke more than people higher on the socioeconomic ladder.
- In fact, people in more deprived neighborhoods that have higher crime rates and less access to health care are more likely to smoke.
- Military people with lower ranks smoke more than higher-ranked officers.
- Kentucky had the highest number of smokers in the United States.
Most pronounced differences in smoking are racial and ethnic:
- American Indians have the highest rates of smoking (31%)
- African Americans (21%)
- European Americans (21%),
- Asian and Pacific Islanders (9%).
Psychological distress was related to smoking status for White but not for Black or Hispanic respondents – Clearly the differences between physiological responses to stress and cognitive and behavioral coping vary.
Why Do People Smoke?
WHY DO PEOPLE SMOKE?
- In keeping with the biopsychosocial approach of health psychology.
- Biologically, nicotine has some pleasing effects on the brain and body, and it works extremely fast.
There are some clear genetic components to smoking – Showed that versions of the dopamine transporter gene SLC6A3 and the dopamine receptor gene DRD2 are associated with the likelihood of smoking.
- The genotype most related to addictive behavior, DRD2-A1, was most commonly found in African Americans, the ethnic group with high smoking rates.
- Genes also influence how nicotine is broken down.
- Brain mapping of smokers with different genes show how variations in the amygdala (responsible for emotion and pleasure) may influence cessation.
Psychological Causes of Addiction
Psychological Causes of Addiction:
- Some personality types, such as individuals with low self-esteem who can be easily influenced or extroverts who savor the stimulation of nicotine, are more likely to smoke.
- The struggle both to overcome feelings of inferiority and establish an identity can make a person more likely to smoke.
- Movies can be a strong influence.
Social Pressure Leads People to Smoke:
- Rebellious adolescents may smoke to appear more adult or to distinguish themselves from others.
- Paradoxically, many children start smoking because they want to be like others, and thus they imitate their peers or family members who are smoking.
- the use of the cartoon character and the subsequent higher familiarity of the Camel brand accounts for why close to 40% of adolescent smokers began smoking with Camels.
Physiological Consequences of Smoking
Physiological Consequences of Smoking:
Smoking has a SYNERGISTIC EFFECT** on many health issues. **TJB – Meaning it makes other existing illness even worse than they already are.
SECONDHAND SMOKE (ENVIRONMENTAL SMOKE (ETS)) – The tobacco smoke inhaled by nonsmokers who are in the presence of smokers.
- This passive smoking is linked to all the bad things as equal to smokers.
- All in all, it is clear that any amount of tobacco use is detrimental to health.
