Homeeconomics PC 24

• Factors influencing food choices
• Factors influencing food choices

  • Culture
  • Health status
  • Families
  • Eating patterns
  • Money available
  • Food availability
  • Sensory aspects
• Factors influencing breakfast choices

  • Culture
  • Nutritional awareness
  • Eating patterns
  • Money available
• Increased knowledge of healthy eating guidelines, reduce fat/salt/sugar intake, increase fibre/calcium influence food choices
• Responsible living influences food choices through packaging, food miles, plant-based diets, efficient cooking, reduced red meat, water footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable shopping
• How consumers become nutritionally aware and health conscious in their food choices

  • Examining food labels
  • Choosing organic produce
• Food labelling

  • Ingredients in order of decreasing weight
  • Guideline daily amounts (GDAs)
  • Quantity of certain ingredients
  • Country of origin
  • Best before date
  • Information on GM ingredients
  • Sugar free, low fat
• Nutritional awareness


  Increased incidence of heart disease, spina bifida, leading people to be more conscious of their health
• Advertising

  Increased consumer demand for functional foods with added benefits (e.g. plant sterols, probiotics)
• Macronutrients

  Nutrients required in large amounts (e.g. protein, lipids, carbohydrates), measured in grams (g)
• Micronutrients

  Nutrients required in small amounts (e.g. vitamins, minerals), measured in milligrams (mg) and micrograms (μg)
• Chemical formula/equation


  Explains how a nutrient is formed by stating the number of elements in each molecule (e.g. C6H12O6 for glucose)
• Sources


  Foods or origins that provide nutrients to the body (e.g. calcium from milk, vitamin D from sunshine)
• Properties

  Characteristics that are unique to specific nutrients (e.g. lipids are insoluble in water, vitamin C is soluble in water)
• Reference intake (RI)


  Guidelines about the appropriate amount of a particular nutrient required for a healthy diet, found on food labels
• Biological functions


  The function or job a nutrient carries out in the body (e.g. lipids provide insulation)
• Digestion

  The breakdown of food to obtain nutrients
• Absorption


  The process of absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream through the villi of the small intestine
• Utilisation


  How the body uses the nutrients absorbed into the bloodstream
• Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

  The estimated amount of a nutrient (or calories) needed per day for the maintenance of good health
• Deficiency diseases


  Diseases that occur when the body is lacking a particular nutrient over a period of time (e.g. anaemia from iron and vitamin C deficiency)
• Food groups - carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins & minerals
• Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our body.
• Protein is essential to build muscle tissue and repair cells.
• Absolute poverty

  Occurs when people are severely deprived of basic human needs (e.g. food, water, medical care, shelter) and may not be able to physically survive.
• Poverty cycle

  The children of the poor will more than likely be poor when they grow up. Children from lower socio-economic families generally don't get the same opportunities and place less importance on education than the children of the better off in society, therefore they remain within this socio-economic grouping.
• Poverty trap


  People who receive social welfare benefits lose them if they return to work. Social welfare benefits may be more financially rewarding than wages in low paid jobs, so some people may choose to remain financially dependent on the state.
• Cycle of poverty

  One aspect of poverty contributes to another and creates a never-ending cycle (e.g. children born into a poor family may have children at a young age and the family is also poor).
• Poverty line

  The estimated minimum income considered necessary to maintain a basic standard of living, the minimum amount of money a person would need to provide for basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter.
• Income poverty


  Occurs when people are living below the poverty line, which is an income of less than 60% of the median income.
• Deprivation

  Occurs when people fail to own items or carry out activities that are considered basic necessities in society (e.g. being able to afford 2 pairs of strong shoes, a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day, a warm, waterproof coat, to keep the home adequately warm).
• Rapid economic growth between 1994 and 2007 reduced poverty rates as unemployment reached a record low of 3.7%.
• In 2008, the Irish economy started to decline again, causing unemployment to increase to 15% in 2012, which increased the number of people living below the poverty line due to a reliance on social welfare payments and high living costs.
• Ireland has one of the highest poverty rates in Europe, including a very high rate of child poverty, and an increase in poverty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Groups of people who are at high risk of poverty in Ireland


  • Older/elderly people over 65
  • One-parent/lone parent families
  • Migrants (ethnic minorities/refugees)
  • People with illnesses, disabilities or special needs
• Poverty black spots


  Areas where poverty is high, such as inner city or urban areas undergoing economic decline, rural households that are isolated and/or underdeveloped due to emigration, decline in farming or dependence on social welfare, and large public social housing estates where low-income groups are concentrated.
• Lack of education


  A percentage of people are leaving school early and don't get the education they require to be employed in a well-paid, steady job, leading to low-income employment.
• Housing shortage


  There is a large housing shortage in Ireland, and housing costs have been extremely expensive, leading to more people being dependent on state benefits.
• Social reasons why poverty continues to exist in Ireland

  • Increase in one-parent families
  • Social problems (e.g. drugs, gambling)
  • Cycle of poverty
• State response to eliminating poverty

  • Minimum wage
  • SOLAS (further education and training authority)
  • SUSI (financial assistance for third-level students)