Factors Affecting a Person's Diet
- Food choices play a major role in weight.diet image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
Diet and nutrition have become areas of significant research in recent years. Diet can play a major role in the growth and development of children and in the development or prevention of disease in adults. - A Cambridge University study published in 1998 showed correlations between socio-economic status and diet. People of a higher socio-economic status reported eating healthier diets than their lower socio-economic counterparts.
- The Cambridge University study and a study by the Food Standards Agency indicated that people tend to eat healthier foods as they grow older.
- A study of adolescents in Minnesota indicated that cultural background played a role in dietary choices.
- Access to a variety of food sources and types also plays a major role in diet. The Minnesota study indicated that adolescents were more likely to choose healthier foods if they had them readily available and if less healthy options were not as readily available. Studies in urban areas of the United States also show that residents in neighborhoods with a wider variety of food choices tend to choose healthier diets and that rates of disease share connections with a lack of food options in so-called "food deserts."
