Introduction
Unhealthy food culture plays a significant role in developing health-related diseases, including obesity. Nutritionists advise people to eat a balanced diet meal at least once a day for a healthy outcome. However, not all people can afford or even access healthy meals. Food insecure neighborhood reports a high population of obese people. A close connection between an unhealthy diet and obesity exists and is contributed by factors such as economic, social, and physical determinants of food choice. Most poor neighborhoods lack access to healthy groceries, so they have no other choice but to consume the processed food available. Therefore, although there are other factors, unhealthy food culture highly contributes to obesity.
Major Determinants of Unhealthy Food Culture
Economic Determinants
Poverty and unemployment are major factors influencing food choices amongst obese people. Unemployed and poor people have little financial ability to choose the type of food they eat (Harbers et al. 61). Poverty prevalent neighborhoods often sell food that the people in the region can afford. Therefore, since healthy food is expensive, the communities supply inexpensive junk food. According to Dolnick, “Hunger and obesity are often flip sides to the same malnutrition coin.” Hungry people do not choose healthy meals, but what will fill their bellies. Consequently, these people consume food with high fat and calories, which hikes their weight abruptly.
Poverty, hunger, and obesity are closely interlinked with their outcome being unhealthy living. Hunger, as a biological determinant of the choice of food taken, push poor people to unhealthy choices (Harbers et al. 65). It is common knowledge that fresh groceries are expensive and unaffordable for low-income earners. Kendall, in her article, narrates how she was brought up by her grandmother in a poverty-prevalent region that could only afford food and desserts. She says that every afternoon, she would run to “the convenient store and get a Big Red pop and a bag of chips. All for $0.50” (Kendall). It is apparent that with their little money, all they can afford are junk food. She also mentions that she and the other children would go for free meals in the project areas. They lived in the project areas where the poor and unemployed population concentrated.
Low-income neighborhoods also experience a reduced supply of healthy food. People living in these areas might at times have money to afford fresh, healthy food, but it is not available. Kendall recalls when she lived in a food desert, and the only available food store was a gas station that sold junk food. She says she would feed on chips for breakfast and lunch and ice cream for dinner (Kendall). This is a sequence of poor food decisions made due to the unavailability of healthy food in the community. Such forced poor choices about food lead to high consumption of fat and unwanted calories (Harbers et al. 64). It is therefore highly possible for the people in the area to have increased weight and obesity.
In low-economic regions, people have to travel to access quality and healthy food. The chances of traveling are minimal for the poor because they spend most of their time earning money. Kendall, in her article, mentions that her grandmother had a babysitting job that could not allow her to board a bus to get fresh groceries. After consuming unhealthy meals, poor people also lack time to work out, thus risking being obese (Dolnick). They spend their little free time accessing processed and unhealthy food sold in their neighborhood supermarkets.
Social Determinants of Unhealthy Food Culture
Culture, family meal patterns, and peer influence are social factors that impact the choice of food made. There is a culture that encourages the eating of food high in calories and unhealthy fats (Harbers et al. 66). For example, American culture embraces the consumption of junk food such as burgers and chips. Continuous consumption of such food for a long time increases individuals’ levels of cholesterol, which leads to obesity. There are also cultures of poor neighborhoods which do not recognize the need to consume balanced diet meals.
Family patterns can also encourage the consumption of unhealthy diets that brings obesity. Families whose patterns do not comprise healthy food, such as fresh vegetables, could form an unhealthy culture (Nwaugochi & Kennedy 11). Such patterns are contributed by negative aspects such as Poverty and the unavailability of healthy food. Poor people with long working hours and several jobs eat while on the run (Dolnick). Accordingly, they form a habit of always eating similar unhealthy meals and consumed within a short time. Fast foods conveniently meet the needs of such a category of people. Having peers who consume unhealthy meals can also lead to eating unhealthy food.
Physical Determinants of Unhealthy Food Culture
Physical determinants such as education, skills, and time also impact the food choice made by people. A low level of education increases the chances of unemployment and food insecurity. According to Dolnick, most unemployed people are also food insecure. Being unemployed means that individuals have little to no money to purchase healthy food and, therefore, will eat any food available, including junk food. Uneducated and people with a low level of education tend to live in the same regions, which due to lack of adequate income flow, become poor communities.
Lack of the right cooking skills can also contribute to the consumption of unhealthy meals. Poor and rich people without necessary cooking skills tend to cook unbalanced diets. Cooking skills do not only comprise how to prepare meals to step by step but also knowing what nutrition to get from certain meals. Uneducated people have little to no knowledge about food and its corresponding nutrients (Nwaugochi et al. 9). Therefore, they collect unhealthy ingredients when preparing to cook. Some healthy ingredients have high fats and calories, so when consumed in large portions lead to weight gain and obesity.
Lack of time to cook healthy meals and consume them at the right time can also influence obesity. People who can afford healthy food may lack time to prepare meals (Manggabarani 3). Consequently, they consume the next available unhealthy food, especially snacks such as sandwiches. According to Dolnick, busy people rarely eat at the right time. These people are highly likely to eat an hour or less before bedtime, thus giving the digestive system no time to work effectively. The habit of sleeping immediately after eating increases the chances of being obese.
Conclusion
Poor food culture is closely interlinked between Poverty and obesity. Poor people will consume any available food so long as they satisfy their hunger. Economic determinants such as costs of food, level of income, and accessibility lead to poor food choices amongst low-income earners. Social and physical factors such as family patterns, culture, and time to cook and eat impact eating habits amongst obese people. The distribution of wealth in society dictates the lifestyles lived by the people within.
Works Cited
Dolnick, Sam. “The Obesity-Hunger Paradox.” The New York Times, 2010, Web.
Harbers, Marjolein C., et al. “Determinants of Food Choice and Perceptions of Supermarket-Based Nudging Interventions among Adults with Low Socioeconomic Position: The Supreme Nudge Project.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 11, 2021, pp. 61-75. Web.
Kendall, Erika N. “No Myths Here: Food Stamps, Food Deserts and Food Scarcity.” A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss, Web.
Manggabarani, Anto J. “The Association Between Eat Culture and Obesity among Adolescents In Tana Toraja.” Executive Editor, vol. 9, no. 11, 2018, pp. 2-5. Web.
Nwaugochi, Ifeanyi, and Lynne Kennedy. “Qualitative Study of the Determinants of Food Choice of International Students and Its Associated Health Risk.” Current Developments in Nutrition, vol. 3, no. 1, 2019, pp. 8-19. Web.