Food Choice Flashcards
Factors influencing food choice
Physical Activity level Healthy eating Cost of food Income Culinary skills Lifestyle Seasonality Availability Special occasions enjoyment religion ethical beliefs
Physical activity level affecting food choice
Different people have different physical activity levels. people with higher PALs need more calories.
A person who has an active lifestyle will need around 20% more calories than someone with a sedentary lifestyle.
Sportsmen or women may choose food to help improve their performance eg. high protein foods to help build muscle orr high carb foods to help with endurance
Healthy Eating
People trying to eat healthily will choose foods based on their nutritionaal value.
eg foods low in sugar and fat and high in vitamins and nutrients.
People with allergies or intolerance will need to avoid certain foods.
Cost of food
People choose food based on its price. Generally they’ll go for the cheaper option, unless they think it will be a better quality.
People will go for foods on special offer.
Sometimes people will buy on bulk to get a lower price per gram.
it can be cheaper to make your own food than to buy ready meals.
income
People on high incomes tend to buy expensive items which suggests it has a higher quality.
People on low incomes will go for cheaper foods Fruit and veg can be pricey so it is likely they will buy cheaper, processed foods.
in general, people on lower incomes tend to have poorer diets than those on high incomes.
Culinary skills
Many people lack the confidence or skill to cook.
So people may not try cooking difficult recipes in case it goes wrong or they don’t enjoy it.
People may not want to waste their money on ingredients of something that might go wrong, rather than choosing a ready made option.
Lifestyle
People feeling stressed or bored are more likely to eat comfort food, high in fat or sugar.
People leading busy lives (eg working long hours) can struggle to find time to make a proper meal, and it can bet tempting to grab an unhealthy meal.
People have different eating patterns, some have proper meals, others tend to graze all throughout the day.
Some people have bad habits like eating just before bed or regularly skipping breakfast.
Seasonality
Certain grown foods are only available at certain times of year eg. courgettes are available between June and September.
People worried about the impact of food miles may buy local foods that are in season to avoid imports around the world.
Availability
People are more likely to buy and eat foods which are readily available. eg people in rural areas ma have limited food options.
With online shopping is on the rise more people living in rural areas are now able to order a wide range of food and get them delivered.
Special occasions
Often celebrated with a large meal.
Eg fattening meal such as turkey and Christmas pudding at Christmas.
Enjoyment
People tend to eat the food they enjoy.
Pick food based on flavour, smell, appearance and texture.
but the food we enjoy often is not healthy. humans are drawn towards sweet or fatty foods and arn’t drawn to bitter foods.
Christianity
During lent, christians give up certain foods and drink.
During Christian celebrations, special foods are eaten eg. hot cross buns on Good Friday or pancakes on pancake day.
Islam
The Qur’an states that the food muslims eat must be halal - where the animal is slaughtered in a special way while being blessed.
Muslims cannot eat pork, or any product made from pork like gelatine. They cannot drink alcohol.
During Ramadan muslims fast between sunrise and sunset.
Hinduism
Many hindus are vegetarian, but tend to avoid certain vegetables that are considered harmful like garlic, onion and mushrooms.
The meat hindus eat has to be slaughtered in a quick, painless method clles jhatka. cows are considered saced , so cannot eat beef.
Judaism
Jewish food must be kosher (for for consumption)
Kosher animals are ones which have split hooves and chew cud (cows and deer),plus fish that have fins and scales.
Animals must be slaughtered using quick, painless methods which allow the blood to drain afterwards, blood is considered non-kosher.
Jews are not allowed to eat pig, rabbit, hare, camel and other animals
Dairy and meats must not be cooked or eaten together
