Sociological and Psychological Impacts on Nutrition
Factors that Effect Health and Wellness
Come with us as we explore and create awareness for the social and psychological factors that effect our health and wellness.
01
Environmental Factors
When beginning a healthy lifestyle, it is important to look at the where and why's of your current lifestyle to make a change in diet. Environment is an important factor that plays into the intake of nutrition. When we look at environment we tend to look mostly into our household but it is far more than that. It is where we work, where we go to school, where we live, etc. There are many countries who are deprived of the nutrients that other countries may receive due to factors such as geographical location and even animal population and consumption. To take part in changing your diet, it's important to be aware of your surroundings first. It can be as simple as being aware of what nutrients we lack because of it and finding an alternative to it. Not only does nutrition depend on geographical environment, but it also heavily depends on social environment. Access to fast food restaurants was differentially associated with fast food consumption and body mass index, dependent on whether access was defined as proximity to home or to work (Ball et al., 2006). With this data, we can see how easily environment influences our decision. The first step into living a healthier lifestyle is to be aware of your environment and make the changes you need to make to keep up with the proper intake that your body needs.
02
Technology
Do you ever wonder if our phones influence the foods we eat or how we decide to make nutritional decisions? Most of us are closely attached to our cell phones and many of us utilize a smart phone. Our phones, more specifically the mobile applications on our phones, could positively affect our nutritional health and behaviors. Mobile applications give you the ability to track your nutritional intake and your macronutrients. Being able to visualize and understand what food you intake, you are able to gauge if you are following recommended dietary guidelines and if the foods you are eating are nutritionally complete or dense. It was found that there is a small to moderate positive effect on nutritional behaviors and obesity factors for individuals who began to utilize mobile nutritional apps (Villinger, 2019). We have compiled a list of mobile applications that you could use in your daily life. These recommendations could be found here.
03
Genes and Heredity
It is extremely important to realize how our genes and hereditary can affect our nutrition and well being. It is proven that genetic variation is actually known to affect food tolerances among humans and also may influence dietary requirements (Stover, 2006). Because of how our genes and hereditary influence our nutrition, customizing our own individual nutritional intake is extremely important for optimal health and disease prevention. It is shown that there is a very large variation in the ability of dietary factors to modulate the expression of harmful or protective proteins at the individual level (Paoloni et al., 2003). A study showed that under current efforts to identify genetic alleles that influence nutrient utilization have been enhanced by identifying genetic variations that expanded as a result of selection under extreme conditions (Stover, 2006).
04
Socioeconomic Influences
Socioeconomic status (SES) are seen to have a strong impact on diet quality. Education and higher income were found to be associated with higher scores for Healthy Eating Index, Mediterranean Diet Score, and Healthy Dietary Pattern (Mullie et al., 2010). Healthy diets consisting of whole grains, lean meats, fresh fruits and vegetables are more nutrient-dense and have a higher cost per calorie. These foods are associated with lower risk of compromising heart health or body weight. Fruits and vegetables are seen as less affordable to lower income groups, and although meat consumption is comparable between higher and lower income households, low-income families choose cheaper and fattier cuts. Foods that are lower in nutritional value and of lower quality generally cost less. Nutrient-dense foods that were available at a low cost were not always appetizing or culturally acceptable to the lower-income groups (Darmon and Drewnowski, 2015). These food choices may lead to an inadequate intake of nutrients, poverty-driven hidden hunger, and a rise in obesity.
