Various environmental factors impact our dietary choices.In this post, we will discuss them.
Environmental factors that influence your dietary choices
The accessibility to unhealthy and healthy foods -The accessibility of foods is an important environmental factor that can influence your dietary selections.To illustrate, if you reside in a a locale where there are multiple grocery stores offering fresh foods , you will likely encourage a diet that consists of the available fresh foods.Unlike if you reside in an area where there are more fast food restaurants.Due to the ease in access to fast foods , it is highly likely you will consume fast foods regularly.
Media influence -If you’re constantly exposed to media content that advocates for healthy eating i.e. nutrition talk shows, you likely will promote a healthy lifestyle. Alternatively , if you’re constantly exposed to marketing that encourages the intake of fast foods, you will also likely adopt the intake of such foods.What is frequently marketed or advertised to you can greatly influence your dietary choices.
Environmental pollution-This can directly impact the availability of foods wherein when an environment becomes polluted, crop production is limited, in turn the reduced crops are also reduced i he diet.
Urbanization-The increasing number of urban centres in major cities corresponds with the shift in dietary intake. This increase facilitates an increase in fast food chains, in turn enhancing the likelihood of the intake of fast foods.Urbanization increase exposure to afst foods
The physical environment you spend most of your time at-for instance, if you spend most of your time at work, you may borrow certain dietary habits from colleagues. If they tend to eat out often, you may also adopt this habit. If most of them carry their lunch, you may likely follow suit .If you spend most of the time at home, you likely will prefer to cook food for yourself. In such a case, you will likely consume healthier alternatives whose ingredients and quantities you are aware of.
Seasons-The availability of different foods is likely dependent on different seasons. Certain foods are available only during certain times of the year.You will probably consume certain foods because they are available during a particular season , but once the season ends, you will limit their intake due to their unavailability. Moreover, when those foods are available during those seasons, they are likely to be more affordable increasing the probability of their purchase.
Environmental factors contribute a part to your dietary choices whether directly or indirectly.Among the common environmental factors that influence your dietary options are environmental pollution, the physical environment you spend most of your time at, the accessibility of foods,the different seasons,urbanization, media influence etc.