Question

How is the current American diet is influenced by the following factors personal life-style, profession, cultural and physcological factors? 5 paragraphs...

Answer 1

There are many factors that affect the choices of foods among people. It is not chosen just by the taste. There are many other factors like smell and appearance of food. The factors that influence the food patterns are categorized under the following.
• Physiological factors
• Food accessibility
• Food characteristics
• Environmental influences
• Psychological influences
The physiological factors that affect the choices of foods are age, sex, body size, metabolic rate, health status, level of physical activity, pregnancy, lactation, hormonal secretions, drug usage and general health status. People who are ill consume food in lesser quantity and prefer bland foods. Drugs and cigarette smoking may increase or decrease the appetite.
Food accessibility means the availability and affordability of foods. It is often limited according to the life style and working situations. In households a particular person is given the responsibility to prepare food; this greatly influences the dietary pattern. Some people have the lifestyle of consuming food outside in restaurants.
The food characteristics are the appearance, colour, shape, temperature, aroma and flavour. Infants and young children show their food preferences according to their exposure. Some foods are consumed for their pharmacological value.
Some of the environmental factors include customs, traditions, peer influences, advertisement, season and environmental temperature. Psychological factors are moods, emotions and events. Food preferences are developed through exposure of all the factors.