Nutrition ecology pt 1

• Interaction of factors involved in nutrition
• Factors involved in nutrition


  • Food
  • Atoms & Molecules
  • Body
  • Structures & Processes
  • Determinants of Food behaviour
  • Internal Environment
  • Nutritional Health
  • External Environment
• Nutrition Flow Model


  1. Production

  2. Transport

  3. Storage

  4. Processing

  5. Marketing

  6. Inter-Familial Distribution

  7. Intra-Familial Distribution

  8. Biological Utilization (Metabolism)

  9. Nutritional Status
• Ecological factors


  • Availability of food in surrounding physical environment
  • Geography and topography
  • Seasons
  • Natural disasters
• Ecological factors


  • Dry climates - grains
  • Wet climates - rice
  • Infertile soil - Soya
  • Coastline/rivers - fish
• People come to favour different foods and flavours (preference can change)
• Where the supply is unpredictable methods of preservation (smoking and drying) developed to preserve foods for leaner months
• Geography and Topography


  • Affects the taste buds/ appetite/ availability
  • Affects nutrient needs (e.g. fluid requirements in hot weather)
• Seasons


  • Floods, storms, and draughts
  • Affects the availability and consumption of food
  • Change in season also exerts other less direct influences on food consumption
• After harvest, farmer is unemployed → limited income → lowered purchasing power→ alters the amount and type of food consumed
• Technological factors


  • Agriculture (irrigation, crop rotation, fertilization and cultivation = increased crop yields)
  • Transportation (move food across difficult terrain and long distances in shorter time to ensure freshness)
  • Refrigeration & Preservation (able to indulge a taste for almost every variety of food all year long)
• Food processing


  • Convenience foods
  • Engineered foods
  • Formulated foods
  • Dietetic foods
• Marketing


  • Messages in advertisement add a meaning to food choices, which is not relevant to nutritional needs but relevant to psychological needs
  • Supermarkets: every aspect of store design is based on marketing research
• As a result, the diet consists more of foods that are grown and prepared away from home
• Agribusiness and the food processing industry exert much control over the food supply
• Genetically modified (GM) foods


  • Techniques of genetic modification are based on knowledge from the 1950's when Watson, et al discovered DNA
  • The deletion, or change, or moving of genes within an organism, or
  • The transfer of genes from one organism to another, or
  • The modification of existing genes and then incorporates it into any organism
• Why are foods being genetically modified?


  • Improve shelf life
  • Increase yield from crops
  • Improve resistance of plants and animals to disease and pests → decrease the use of pesticides
  • Increase the nutrient content of plant foods
• Organic foods


  • Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, genetically modified seeds, irradiation or fertilizer derived from sewage sludge
  • Animals grown without the use of growth hormones or antibiotics, living in environmental conditions similar to the animal's natural habitat and use only 100% organic feed
  • Differ from conventionally grown foods in the way they are grown, handled and processed
• Organic foods are usually more expensive, less variety when compared to conventionally grown foods, and not as easy to access
• Functional foods


  • Foods that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition
  • Foods that by virtue of physiologically active food components provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition
• Phytochemicals


  • Plant chemical
  • Physiologically active non-nutritive chemicals in plants
  • Protective properties (e.g. antioxidants, etc)
• Phytochemicals


  • Phytosterols (soybeans, soy milk, etc)
  • Capsaicin (hot peppers)
  • Organosulfur compounds (chives, garlic, onions...)
  • Indoles (broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables)
• Political factors


  • Availability of food (rationing)
  • Loss of agricultural land (battle)
  • Workers are lost to armed services
• War and natural disasters


  • Food supplies increase
  • Subsidies are given to farmers
  • Incentives increase productivity
  • Stockpiling of surplus goods
  • Prices sky-rocket (decrease food availability)
• Food subsidies


  • Some of money granted by a government/public body to assist an industry/business so that the price of a commodity/service may remain low
  • Reduce the production costs to the farmers and/or decrease the cost of food to the consumer
• Overproduction (in relation to demand and need) leads to a food environment with excessive calories to be consumed, especially from nutrient poor energy-dense foods
• Export subsidies of overproduced goods have a negative effect on the agricultural economy of other developing countries
• Agricultural growth is important for alleviating poverty and malnutrition because it increases food availability locally, creates employment, stimulates rural economy, and reduces the cost of food for poor consumers
• Economic factors


  • Restriction food availability; variety; quality
  • Vicious cycle of poor health and poor nutrition
• Income


  • Unemployment- ↓ income = decreased buying power = affect the amount and type of food
  • Affluence- ↑ income = more food, but not necessarily better
• People with limited financial resources would prefer energy-dense, convenient to use, tasty, and inexpensive foods, which increases the risk of obesity and its related chronic diseases
• Psychological factors


  • Emotion
  • Artistic creation
  • Sensory pleasure
  • Self fulfilment
  • Sense of stability
• Energy-dense foods are high in calories but low in other nutrients, while nutrient-dense foods have more nutrients relative to their caloric content.
• Macronutrients are essential components that make up most of our dietary intake and include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water, minerals, vitamins, and fiber.
• Nutrient density refers to how much nutrition (energy or specific nutrients) an individual consumes per unit weight/volume of their diet.
• The nutritional value of food is determined by the amount of energy it provides, as well as its content of essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water.
• Nutrient content refers to the amount or concentration of specific substances found in foods.
• The nutritional value of food is determined by its chemical composition, which can be measured using various methods.
• Traditional diets refer to the typical eating habits and preferences passed down through generations within a particular culture or community.
• Malnutrition


  The impairment in health resulting from a long standing deficient, excessive, or imbalanced intake of nutrients