Critical Reflection on experience in completing module

 Critical Reflection on experience in completing module

own view on food prior to attend this module

Food is to satisfy the hunger, in order to be active, and different types of food used in different culture and nation. At the same time  there is no specific place that have been selected for eating for instance, healthier food restaurant or vegetarian restaurant. This is all the consideration and information I knew before the start of this module, but at end of this module simply I can say that now I can collect data about any topic that related to food issues, while based on my perilous knowledge I can easily conduct research on cultural difference in food. Perilously I thought food is just for eating nothing much, even if there are some diet methods and heathy diet I just leave them as it is but after all those literature review reading it force me to take consideration on food elements and research on healthier foods which increase my knowledge on food habits.

Concepts / issues related to food in the context if  your own particular professional future

Its obvious that food related problems are increasing past decades, in my opinion in future it will be much more difficult to address these problems . The following are the areas or issue that on food related problems that have to be addresses in future

Obesity

Obesity has become a global epidemic, and it is still increasing in both industrialized and developing countries. For example, the prevalence of child obesity and overweight has doubled world wide during the past two decades. Obesity and overweighting increasing Maldives authorities has to take immediate action against it.

Due to the difficulty of curing obesity in adults and the many long-term adverse effects of childhood obesity, the pre-vention of child obesity has been recognized as a public health priority. Increasing evidence shows that childhood obesity has a profound influence on morbidity and mortality in adult life.  However, few studies have examined the worldwide situation regarding childhood obesity, particularly due to the fact that no standard or reference is agreed upon international-ally.

Food Security 

Food safety is an essential public health issue around the world. Foodborne diseases due to microbial pathogens, biotoxins, and chemical contaminants in food represent serious threats to the health of many people round the world. Serious outbreaks of foodborne disease have been documented on every parts of the world in the past decades. Everywhere consumers view foodborne disease outbreaks with ever-increasing concern. Outbreaks are likely, however, to be only the most visible aspect of a much broader, more persistent problem. Foodborne diseases not only significantly affect people's health and well-being, but they also have economic consequences for individuals, families, communities, businesses and countries. These diseases impose a substantial burden on health-care systems and markedly reduce economic productivity. Poor people tend to live from day to day, and loss of income due to foodborne illness perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

Food Cost

The cost of foods also affects the choice of food. The food prices will affect some groups of the population. It also has been found that those in lower socio economic groups consume less fruits and vegetables than those in higher socio economic groups.

Cost can be a particularly important factor in what people choose to eat. In some cases, the least healthy choice are also  most affordable-high fat and high-sugar foods, for example, tend to cost less per calorie than healthier alternatives like fruits and vegetables. This could make it difficult for some lower income consumers to afford healthier options.

Dietary Choices 

Individual dietary choices may be more or less healthy. Proper nutrition’s we need for our body in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Food is essentially considered to consist of nutrition’s that support body growth and metabolism to provide energy. Dietary habits and choices play a significant role in the quality of life, health and longevity. A healthy diet may improve or maintain optimal health. In developed countries affluence enables unconstrained caloric intake and possibly inappropriate food choices  (Sloan, Legrand & Chen, 2008).

It is recommended by many authorities to be healthy that people should maintain a normal weight by limiting the consumption of energy dense foods and sugary drinks. People should in take more plant based foods like vegetables. Also limit red and processed meat and limit the drinking of alcohol.

Significant learning that you have drawn in relation to your understanding of food and your goal(s)

Anthropology and sociology of food module has given me the opportunity to further research about food and , provides lot of information about food habits, choices, factors that influence the food habits, theory’s and models that literature have conducted. By evaluating and researching all those research, I found that it is important to have certain expectations on food. Since food is important aspects of life, its obvious that every one must have to their responsibility to aware the knowledge and information to the sociality at large. More over this module provide me an important aspect that we need to focused on while researching on food related studies. Evaluation methods and designing research frame work to a food related topic made this module more interesting and it will benefit for me to design and conduct a research on food related studies in my home country Maldives where there in limited or nor studies conducted. While it has been noted that on this field of researcher are less and it the urgency of studies needed to conducted in this filed, because it relates to many peoples health related problems.

In future I would like to work as a resort manager, for in that particular industry is best place where i can offer people new ways to adopt their food baits. Most importantly this has been done because early I have mention the problem that people are facing due to food habits.

Nutrition education is very important in the life of every human being. It helps to make many wise decisions about food. (Salovaara, 2006). For example what type of food to eat, when to eat the foods, how many times you need to take foods eat day and what combination of food provide a healthy diet. Early development of food preferences are important in establishing life-long food habits. There fore nutrition education is one aspect will be focuses on. As a manager and of resort their will be corporate social responsibility so under our CSR I will conduct nutrition education program to Primary School students parents and Pre-school parents as well as the NGO’s so the awareness will be created around the society as well as country.

Introducing healthier menus in Both staff and main restaurant for tourist and will take necessary steps to reduce the price of food without compromising the quality of food. This will encourage people to choose healthier foods. In restaurant areas kitchens and other areas healthier and good practice of food habits messages and quotes  will be displayed.

Reference:

Miller, K., Ogletree, R., & Welshimer, K. (2002). Impact of Activity Behaviors on Physical Activity Identity and Self-Efficacy. Am J Health Behav, 26(5), 323-330.

Grzywacz, J., & Keyes, C. (2004). Toward Health Promotion: Physical and Social Behaviors in Complete Health. Am J Health Behav, 28(2), 99-111.

Ridde, V. (2007). Reducing social inequalities in health: public health, community health or health promotion?. Promotion & Education, 14(2), 63-67.

Khan, M., & Hackler, L. (1981). Evaluation of food selection patterns and preferences. C R C Critical Reviews In Food Science And Nutrition, 15(2), 129-153.

Kirk, M., & Gillespie, A. (1990). Factors affecting food choices of working mothers with young families. Journal Of Nutrition Education, 22(4), 161-168. doi:10.1016/s0022-3182(12)80917-4

Salovaara,. (2006). 4th European Symposium on Oats--Oats and Healthy Foods. CFW.

LEVITAS, C. (1988). The Anthropology of Food in Rural igboland, Nigeria: Socioeconomic and Cultural Aspects of Food and Food Habit in Rural igboland. L.C. OKERE. Lanham. American Ethnologist, 15(3), 591-592.

Yap, P., Mahadeva, S., & Goh, K. (2014). The Influence of Cultural Habits on the Changing Pattern of Functional Dyspepsia. Dig Dis, 32(3), 217-221.

FOOD HABITS

FOOD HABITS

Food habits are defined as ‘the way in which individuals in response to social and cultural pressures select, consume, and utilize portions of the available food supply’ (Khan & Hackler, 1981). Food habits develop from learned experience, which leads to the development of attitudes towards food. Food habits become a form of self-expression.

There are certain factors that affect the food habit. Such as physiological, psychological, social and economic factors. The physiological need of food is to satisfy the hunger, appetite, nutritional requirement and reaction to food. The psychological factors relate to the mind and emotions. These psychological needs are difficult to describe, and it depend on person’s life style and upbringing. Some psychological factors such as beliefs, values, habits and past experience with food have a constant influence on the food that you prefer to consume.  The economic factors that affect while selecting foods are cost of food, available resources, the market place and occupation and finances. The cost of foods also affects the choice of food. The food prices will affect some groups of the population. It also has been found that those in lower socio economic groups consume less fruits and vegetables than those in higher socio economic groups. In general life style has its influence on food such as employment, education, geographic location, travel an interests and household structures and roles (Kirk & Gillespie, 1990).

Food plays a very important role in people’s lives in most cultures. All the necessary requirement in making or preparation of food and the activities such as capture, cultivation, preparation and consumption are considered a vital part of a cultural act. It has been adopted gradually as per availability of prey and climate conditions (LEVITAS, 1988).So how the culture effects the food choices is important to study and it helps to understand the different aspects of food making, which greatly varies among different cultures across the globe. However, the degree of importance varies from culture to culture. For example, in American Samoa most family activities and ceremonies center on eating. A host family demonstrates its prosperity or social rank by providing large quantities of food. Sometimes the difference in eating habits create challenges for international food retail companies to cater to customers and market themselves. Conversely, the foods of mainstream culture have been influenced by the presence of ethnic cultures. Fast food restaurants and other takeout restaurants now offer such wide ranging selections as pizza, tacos, falafel, tandoori etc. For generations eating food is all family members getting together and spending some quality time but previously it was at home and now people have started to going out for dinners, in restaurants on special occasions and weekends.

When you grow up in a distinctive culture, it’s bound to influence your life style, your belief system and perhaps your diet. Some foods are consumed by people over long term through generations. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what food to eat. This may be due to personal taste or ethical reasons.  These foods have traditional or historic precedent in a national, regional or local cuisines. For instance the traditional foods of the Eastern Mediterranean region include falafel, halwa, kanefeh etc. Nations or countries are frequently associated with certain foods. For example, many people associate Italy with pizza and pasta. Yet Italians eat many other foods and types of pasta dishes that vary through Italy.

Many cultures have recognizable cuisines. It is a specific set of cooking traditions that are used like various spices or a combination of flavors that is unique to the certain culture. Other difference of food includes preferences like hot, cold or spicy, etc. Some popular types of ethnic foods include Italian, French, Japanese, Chinese, American, Thai, Caju, African and Indian cuisine.

Food traditions or culture vary widely throughout the world. Even among the people who shares similar cultural backgrounds and same food habits. But their eating habits are not identical. People from different age group eat differently (Yap, Mahadeva & Goh, 2014).

Therefore, sensitivity of food rules and customs is important in building and strengthening cross cultural relationships.

Asian food and culture

In Asian food culture rice is consumed at a very high rate in all parts of Asia. Rice is mainly served either porridge, steamed or as even as rice noodles. The Chinese and other some cultures follow Buddhism, which prohibits them to consumption of huge amount of food at a time. The Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese cultures all consume their food with chopsticks but with different shapes.

The Middle Eastern food

As Middle Eastern countries are most of Islamic religion. They exclude consumption of pork or alcohol in any form. The most common use is of olives and chickpeas in Middle Eastern cuisine and pita bread is very popular flat bread that is consumed there. Thus it signifies as how drastically culture affect the food choices.

So in order to jot down all the facts related to culture and food and understand the authentically of how does culture have effect on food choices that you made. It can be said that the transformation of recipes into real food that eventually acquires its own language and comes out as a product of complex culture that is affected by external factors such as climate, geography, the pursuit of pleasure and the wish to acquire good health. It can be easily concluded that food has always symbolized class and cultures.

 Food culture have long been incorporated into religious customs across the globe. For example only kosher foods are permitted by Judaism and halal foods by Islam. There are certain religious groups that practice abstinence or are restricted to consume certain foods and drinks during holy days, such as Ramadan for Muslims. While there are other religious sects that incorporate food preparation processes with religious rituals. Some religious food practices and restrictions are attributed to early health concerns in food and drinking conception. Many Hindus for example, abide with a strict vegetarian foods. On the other hand, Hindus who eat meat are restricted from consuming beef because cows are considered sacred in Hinduism. Islam is also common religion in India and it prohibits the use of pork in any kind of food. Religious food vary extensively. The prohibition and restrictions involved within a particular religion may vary between branches or denominations. The ingredients, method of preparation, preservation techniques and types of food eaten at different meals vary among cultures.

Regional food habit do exist, but they also change over time. As people immigrate, food practices and preferences are imported and exported. Families move to other locations, bringing their food preferences with them. They may use their old recipe with new ingredients or experiment with new recipe to incorporate ingredients to match their own taste. In addition to impacting food choices culture plays a role in food related etiquette. People in western societies may refer to food related etiquette as table manners, a phrase that illustrate the cultural expectation of eating food or meal at a table. Some people eat with forks and spoons. There are also much more people who use fingers or chopsticks.

Individual dietary choices may be more or less healthy. Proper nutrition’s we need for our body in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Food is essentially considered to consist of nutrition’s that support body growth and metabolism to provide energy. Dietary habits and choices play a significant role in the quality of life, health and longevity. A healthy diet may improve or maintain optimal health. In developed countries affluence enables unconstrained caloric intake and possibly inappropriate food choices  (Sloan, Legrand & Chen, 2008).

It is recommended by many authorities to be healthy that people should maintain a normal weight by limiting the consumption of energy dense foods and sugary drinks. People should in take more plant based foods like vegetables. Also limit red and processed meat and limit the drinking of alcohol. Every culture has its bad habits. Bad habits are formed more easily than good habits and are usually the hardest to get rid of. Like smoking, drinking, gambling, over eating and eating fast foods are all examples of bad habits. Nevertheless, some cultural habits are prone to produce more obesity, higher cholesterol, or higher sugar content in the blood, which is increasingly evident in the US. This is due to certain kind of food being consumed in large quantities. Nutrition education is very important in the life of every human being. It helps to make many wise decisions about food. (Salovaara, 2006). For example what type of food to eat, when to eat the foods, how many times you need to take foods eat day and what combination of food provide a healthy diet. Early development of food preferences are important in establishing life-long food habits. Taste preferences such as sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savory preferences have a strong innate component. Components of flavor detected by the olfactory system are strongly influenced by the early exposure (Sloan, Legrand & Chen, 2008).

Here are some eating habits which once you have made them part of your life routine that are sustainable in long term.

Eat healthy unprocessed food

Many of the packaged foods we buy today are aimed at convenience and involve the minimum time of preparation. They often contain high amount of preservatives, man-made colorings, and other chemicals are also added such as 12WBT dietitian George Moore explains, there are other down sides of processed foods.

“Packaged foods tend to be higher in fat, salt and sugar than food cooked from scratch, while lacking nutrients and fibre” she says.

This means unprocessed foods like fresh vegetables, lean meat, eggs and milk and eating more of fruits, nuts and legumes will reap the health benefits. In order to live healthy life we can do the following;

Switch to healthy whole grains

Whole grain offer far more nutrients and fibre than their refined white varieties. They also came out with lower cholesterol. For instance adding whole grain such as quinoa and buckwheat to salads and other meals will add a heap of nutrients. It is usually available in a health food store or the health food aisle of any supermarket.

Change to healthy cooking methods

While cooking try as much to avoid things like deep frying, which drenches your food in unnecessary calories and boiling vegetables until they are drained of color as they will sap them of nutrients that is good for our body.

Eat healthy portion sizes

Just eat as much as required to our body. Over eating will cause bad affects to our health.

Drink plenty of water

Water is essential for life. Water is required for digestion, absorption and transportation of nutrients in our body, for elimination of waste and to regulate body temperature. According to the Australian Dietary Guidelines a healthy amount for men to drink is 2.6 litres per day and women should have 2.1 litres or 8 to 10 glass of water per day.

Now a day in this modern society food advertisement has increased the demand and consumption of particular types of foods. Advertisement usually attract the people to choose certain types of foods often that appears on the television, internet, posters, radio, newspapers and magazines. These advertisements provide information’s to consumers about the foods/product available in market. This can assist the people when making choices. The food preference of people varies from one person to another. Not everyone likes the same foods, but some foods are particularly popular or unpopular among the people.  The taste, appearance and texture of food can affect the people choice of food in different ways ('Influence marketing: how to create, manage, and measure brand influencers in social media marketing', 2013).

The quality of food is most important thing that we should consider while consuming a certain food. This includes external factors such as appearance, size, shape, color, gloss and consistency. Food quality in the United States is enforced by the food safety act in 1990.  Food quality is an important food manufacturing requirement. Sometimes if the quality of foods is not maintained properly it directly affect the health of its consumers. The quality of foods have its impact on consumer demands. On the other hand, at present we have more clear idea and information about what’s better to eat or what’s worse to health.

In conclusion, eating habits are really important for our health. We decide to have various food habits. It is then not a matter of depriving ourselves or forcing ourselves, but simply a conscious recognition of respecting what feels for our body in the long term run.

Reference:

Miller, K., Ogletree, R., & Welshimer, K. (2002). Impact of Activity Behaviors on Physical Activity Identity and Self-Efficacy. Am J Health Behav, 26(5), 323-330. doi:10.5993/ajhb.26.5.1

Grzywacz, J., & Keyes, C. (2004). Toward Health Promotion: Physical and Social Behaviors in Complete Health. Am J Health Behav, 28(2), 99-111. doi:10.5993/ajhb.28.2.1

Ridde, V. (2007). Reducing social inequalities in health: public health, community health or health promotion?. Promotion & Education, 14(2), 63-67. doi:10.1177/10253823070140021401

Khan, M., & Hackler, L. (1981). Evaluation of food selection patterns and preferences. C R C Critical Reviews In Food Science And Nutrition, 15(2), 129-153. doi:10.1080/10408398109527314

Kirk, M., & Gillespie, A. (1990). Factors affecting food choices of working mothers with young families. Journal Of Nutrition Education, 22(4), 161-168. doi:10.1016/s0022-3182(12)80917-4

Salovaara,. (2006). 4th European Symposium on Oats--Oats and Healthy Foods. CFW. doi:10.1094/cfw-51-0150

LEVITAS, C. (1988). The Anthropology of Food in Rural igboland, Nigeria: Socioeconomic and Cultural Aspects of Food and Food Habit in Rural igboland. L.C. OKERE. Lanham. American Ethnologist, 15(3), 591-592. doi:10.1525/ae.1988.15.3.02a00330

Yap, P., Mahadeva, S., & Goh, K. (2014). The Influence of Cultural Habits on the Changing Pattern of Functional Dyspepsia. Dig Dis, 32(3), 217-221. doi:10.1159/000357853

Influence marketing: how to create, manage, and measure brand influencers in social media marketing. (2013). Choice Reviews Online, 51(05), 51-2752-51-2752. doi:10.5860/choice.51-2752

Critical Reflection on past experience with food, goals, in taking  module. 

Eating habits means to why and how people eat, which foods they prefer to eat, and with whom they like to take food. In every culture there are both acceptable and unacceptable foods. Like vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods.

Culture and religious influences people choice of food. In our culture for certain occasions we prepare variety of foods and invites neighbors and relatives. For these special occasions we usually have traditional foods. For example once we purchase new house or apartment we invite our neighbors and family members and celebrate the happiness. In 2013 when we changed our new apartment in Bukit Jalil Kuala Lumpur, we had dinner with many friends both Maldivian and other nationalities.

Religious prospective of some foods are prohibited. For instance, pork is prohibited for Muslims. Ramazan is another religious event where Muslims change their food choice during this holly month. The foods used in this month are different from other months. In this month people cook variety of delicious foods and it will be common in this month that people invites for ifthar (break fast) for each other’s house. Foods prepare for break fast and dinner (Tharaavees) is special than other months. Mainly all the people prepare foods on their home and the spending on food will be much higher compare to other months. The food wastage is also high in this month.

Every year students association of Maldives also conducts a special break fast in respective university for their students. Normal friends and family will be invited. Break fast organized by Asia Pacific University students held on 11 July 2015. Participates have to contribute for the break fast normally each has to bring one food item.

The modern development and globalization food industry now fast foods like pizza, burger etc. are more popular among people because they are tasty and available at convenient prices. I also personally like fast food items. But these fast foods are not good for health. The people need more awareness and health education in order to use healthy foods. Many food items we use daily are usually produced within the country or exported. We export the food products that are not available within the country.

Now days it’s very common and flexible to go restaurants and it becomes modern trend. Restaurants provide variety of foods and drinks at different price range. Some restaurants maintain the quality of their foods and services. But some restaurants they don’t maintain the quality standards and it directly affect to the health of customers.

My expectation on this module is, this module will provide in depth studies and researches base on numerous social factors that influence eating habits among different culture and different class. At the same time the development and trends in people eating habits in modern society.

More over module will focus on the food security and obesity. Adapting strategies to build healthier life style, policies and tools that ensure the foods are safe for customers. It also develops strategies to avoiding food crisis and using emerging technologies to deliver foods.