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1.3
Social and Cultural Influences
on Food Choices
Summary
●● Cultural and religious food traditions vary ●● Poverty and low income limits food choices and
widely within the UK. the ability to provide a healthy diet for children.
●● Health professionals should not make ●● Marketing and advertising influences children’s
assumptions about eating habits based on food habits and requests for food.
ethnic grouping or religion alone as traditions
vary from family to family. ●● Parenting style affects the eating habits and
foods consumed by children.
Throughout childhood, children tend to prefer to associated with parental obesity and therefore
eat familiar foods. When given a choice of foods family food habits.
they will generally choose foods they have eaten
before and enjoyed. They need to be motivated to Feeding practices are routed deeply in cultural
try new foods. From the beginning of weaning onto and religious traditions. When health professionals
solid foods children learn to like the foods their understand why and how families make their food
families choose to offer to them. Although choices and engage in particular feeding practices
adolescents may reject family foods, as young they can give sensitive advice to help families
adults and parents, they are likely to revert to the improve their eating habits.
eating habits they learned during their early
childhood. Cultural Food Traditions
The very wide range of foods available within Many different races have migrated to the UK, each
the UK today presents families with a huge choice bringing different cultural and religious traditions
of foods. Food choices are based on: relating to food. Sharing food traditions and food
restrictions can bind groups of people together and
●● availability set groups apart from each other. This is seen in
both religious and geographical food traditions.
●● cost and affordability, depending on socio-
economic circumstances Being fully aware of different food customs and
practices is important but it is equally important
●● cultural and religious traditions that assumptions about a family’s food habits are
not made solely on the basis of their ethnic origin
●● family experience. or religious grouping. There is enormous diversity
in culture, traditions and food habits between and
Poor food choices by families are key factors in the within different ethnic and religious groups and
high rates of obesity, dental caries and even within a family.
iron-deficiency anaemia currently prevalent
within the UK. Obesity in children is strongly
