Food is full of all kinds of things that are essential to nutrition, but proteins, vitamins and minerals aren’t the only things that food contains. If you look a little closer at your diet, you will find that it is permeated with economic, social, cultural, political and religious values, and so considering a range of different perspectives can have a big impact on your wellbeing.
It’s crucial to be aware of how values affect diet when you come to make any wellness-related decision. For example, in East London, where many residents are of Bangladeshi origin, white sugar is considered a ‘strong’ food that promotes energy and good health. This contrasts dramatically with the medical view that sugar can undermine your wellness, especially if you have diabetes. Therefore, food recommendations have to be made taking the reality of people’s lives into account.
When advice is dispensed without people’s knowledge and beliefs in mind, there is less chance that individuals will heed such advice. Jamie Oliver demonstrated in his Ministry of Food that if people don’t know how to cook, promoting healthy food is a waste of time. However, there are even more factors to consider, including socio-economic status, that could again impact whether or not you are able to follow dietary recommendations.
Let’s take a look at a cultural factor everyone knows about: weight. Whilst obesity is considered a risk factor for a host of conditions and diseases, the Western medical obsession with reducing weight is still culturally based. For instance, the government has now introduced health ‘MOTs’ that will include measurements of BMI, and weight reduction advice as standard for those at risk. Yet according to evidence, there is little to suggest that these strategies work in the long-term. We have decided that, to a great extent, being thinner is better, and so it pervades our media and even our health system.
When you get to the other end of the scale, the focus on the obesity epidemic has contributed to the rise in eating disorders. We are a society that values thinness, whether for beauty reasons or health, so is it any wonder that we struggle to generate a balanced approach to eating? Yes, obesity isn’t good for your wellness, but neither is only associating thinness with health. And, if you think about it, surely the odd pizza and glass of wine with friends is just as important for your wellbeing as getting plenty of healthy, low-calorie, foods.
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