Ejss 68 cultural perceptions of healthy food a speculation on maladaptive practices leading to malno by The Explorer-Islamabad

The Explorer Islamabad: Journal of Social Sciences ISSN: 2411-0132(E), 2411-5487(P) Vol-1, Issue (9):311-313 www.theexplorerpak.org

CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS OF HEALTHY FOOD: A SPECULATION ON MALADAPTIVE PRACTICES LEADING TO MALNOURISHMENT Kainat Kausar, Awais Ahmed Department of Anthropology, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi Correspondent Author: Kainat Kausar PMAS -Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi kainatkausar94@gmail.com Abstract: Food is a crucial contributor to the physical wellbeing and is a major source of pleasure or stress. Taste has never been governed solely by nutritional value and this physical universal has been modified into culturally particularistic way. The research was aimed at studying the cultural perceptions of healthy food and its maladaptation leading to malnutrition. The research finds whether the diet of common people is balanced and according to the bodily needs or not. The perception of healthy food is generally based on cultural facts. The present study has been conducted in Banni Rawalpindi city, Pakistan. The data presented in the paper was collected by using a mix of both quantitative and qualitative research tools from a sample of 70 respondents selected by convenient sampling technique. The analysis shows that the consumers want culturally defined “tasty” food while health is a factor not under consideration when opting for a meal.

Key Words: Adaptation, Maladaptive, Cultural perception and Health INTRODUCTION Food is the basic source of nutrients, and is also a key component of our culture, central to our sense of identity. The review contains a description of research program for the study of maladaptive cultural practices leading to the malnourishment. Food and its appropriate balanced consumption affect the life of humankind. Moreover, eating habits are majorly developed around ones culture. In our culture regular meals typically three or more times in a day are common. “The meal taken at the table is the cultural form” (Neely 2007). Adaptation is the construction of specific traits by the individuals substituting the traits less fit to the environment. In numerous social science fields, adaptation is considered as a response to risk associated with the interaction of environmental hazards and human vulnerability or adaptive capacity. The adaptive function of food is to provide energy according to body needs and requirements. Maladaptation is the poor, inadequate adaptation or traits that are harmful instead of helpful. “Maladaptation is here taken as the deviation from adaptive peak” (Crespi 1999). The “application” of adaptation “varies by the phenomena of interest (Barry and Wandel 2006). The required degree of energy varies at various life stages according to the age and body structure. Human energy requirements are estimated from measure of energy expenditure plus the additional energy

needs for growth, pregnancy, lactation etc. “Numerous factors affect energy expenditure” (Hellwig, et al. 2006). Food thus is very important for physical and mental health. “Food plays a major role in creating inequality in health” (Lang, et al. 1999). Undoubtedly, food becomes one of the essential needs for sustainable life. People are oftenly more selective in their consumption since it is not only tied to appetite, prize or taste but also cultural perception. Perception varies from individual to individual. Likewise, the cultural perception of food has geographical variation too. Eating is never a purely biological activity. Preparing food for consumption and eating socially are activities that are conducted for purposes other than mere nutrition. “Food is closely tied with art because of its close cultural connection” (Neely 2007). There are many kinds of food identifications and it varies from culture to culture. Food is the “single greatest category of expenditures” (Neely 2007). Traditionally Pakistanis like to have more homecooked meals, however with the passage of time due to increasing influence of western culture there has been major shift in food consumption. It includes the consumption of fast foods. Fast food is one of the world’s fastest growing food types (Rozin, et al. 1999). But the influence of the culture is still dominant. “The importance of food as a positive force in life” (Rozin, et al. 1999). Healthy

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Age (years)

Sedentary1

Child

2-3

1000-1,200

Female

4-8 9-13 14-18 19-30 31-50 51+ 4-8 9-13 14-18 19-30 31-50 50+

1,200-1,400 1,400-1,600 1,800 1,800-2000 1,800 1,600 1,200-1,400 1,600-2000 2000-2,400 2,400-2,600 2,200-2,400 2000-2,200

Male

(Reference: Dietary guidelines for Americans 2010)

1: Sedentary means the lifestyle that includes day to day physical activity. The following cross tabulated data shows the results of sampling: Table. 2: Respondents Preference regarding Food Intake

Food Preference Raw food Cooked food Salad 4 (5.7%) 14 (20%) Fruit 7 (10%) 45 (64%) 7 (10%) 21 (30%) Daily fruit Yes intake No 14 (20%) 31 (44%) Yes 5 (7.1%) 22 (31%) Daily salad intake No 6 (8.5%) 37(52.9%) The above mentioned tables show that respondent likes to eat more cooked food as compared to raw food. 84% respondents like to eat cooked food and Food preference

Table. 3: Fats used by the respondents Kind of Fat used by respondents Consumption of chicken / week

Gender

Consumption of rice/ week

Table. 1: Estimated Calories Required Per Day w.r.t. age and gender

only 15% like raw food. Raw food includes salad and fruits. The majority of the respondents who like to eat raw food prefer fruits (10%) more than salad (1%). The most common trend is peeling of fruits which lead to loss of various nutrients. Cooking is an important part of the Asian culture. “Cooking skills are a very practical illustration” (Lang, et al. 1999). Asian food preparation techniques include stir-frying, deep-frying, boiling, steaming and barbecuing. Moreover according to the respondents, fried and deeply cooked food is more common(Hill 2010).So cooking becomes more than a necessity and it is the symbol of our humanity. The basic purpose of cooking is to make meat and other protein containing foods e.g. pulses digestible. However in south Asian culture vegetables are also cooked before eating which lessen the nutritional values. “Cooking skills are factor in variations” (Lang, et al. 1999). The data tabulation shows that respondents who eat fruits or salad daily are less. It shows that salad and fruits are not the part of daily diet. Majority of respondents (64.3%) do not eat fruits and salads on daily basis. “Consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with reduced risk of many chronic diseases” (USDA and HHS 2010).

Consumption of vegetables/ week

food is based on the content and the way food has been processed. MATERIALS AND METHODS The research was conducted in district Rawalpindi, Banni by using both qualitative and quantitative tools. Questionnaires, interviews, secondary sources such as articles, books and internet were used for gathering information about the cultural perception for healthy foods. Sample of 70 respondents were chosen. The cross tabulation for statistical analysis has been used for having better results. RESULTS AND DISSCUSION The following table shows the estimated calories needs per day by age and gender. Calorie is the unit of energy (heat) available from metabolism of food that is required to sustain the body’s various functions. By ideal and balanced diet one could maintain the sedentary estimated calories.

opt. 2 times 3 times 4 times More 2 times 3 times 4 times More 2 times 3 times 4 times More

pure cooking oil 10 (14%) 2 (2.8%) 2 (2.8%) 0 8(11%) 4(5.7%) 0 2 (2.8%) 10 3

vegetable oil 24 (34.2%) 19 (27%)

Any other 4(5.7%) 3(4%)

2 (2.8%)

2(2.8%)

2 (2.8%)

15(21.4%)

2 (2.8%)

14 (20%) 11 (15.7%) 7(10%) 28 (40%) 17 (24.2%)

3(4%) 3(4%) 1(1.4%) 4(5.7%) 3(4.2%)

1(1.4%)

2(2.4%)

1(1.4%)

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The cross tabulation no.3 shows the ratio of different cooked food e.g. chicken, rice, pulses and vegetables. The consumption of vegetables, chicken, rice and pulses varies to large extent. “Vegetables and grains” are the major source of “carbohydrate” and “the primary role of carbohydrates is to provide energy to the cells in body” (Hellwig, et al. 2006). The cultural perception differs within the geographical boundaries of a city. Cultures are very complex systems of differences intertwined with each other where the choice of the people is determined by their cultural particularities. “Food diversity is an implicit characteristic of diversified culture” (Goyal and Sing 2007). The concept of balance diet is not common in all cultures. The concept of balanced diet or proportionate diet as per the age, gender and health status was found missing. There is also variation in the use of flour. Mostly people used wheat and refine flour. In refining of flour a lot of nutrition lost, which leads to the malnourishment and maladaptive function of flour. These “differences may influence health” (Rozin, et al. 1999). The respondents that used pure cooking oil are only 20% and the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are usually liquid at room temperature and are referred to as “oils” “oils are a concentrated source of calories” (USDA and HHS 2010). The data indicated that there are considerable variations in knowledge about cooking, its application and role in domestic life and relevance to health. CONCLUSION The following study concluded that consumer’s preference in food did not focus on healthy options but were purely dependent upon culturally defined tasty food. The food habits are influenced by many factors such as environment at home, availability and accessibility to food providers, social environment and their surroundings. REFERENCES Barry Smit, and Johanna Wandel 2006 Adaptation, Adaptive Capacity and Vulnerability. Global Environmental Change 16(3):282-292.

2007 Consumer Perception about Fast Food in India: An Explatory Study. British Food Journal 102(9):182-195. Hill, Patti 2010 Cultural Diversity; Eating in America Asian. The Ohio State University. Hellwig, Jennifer Pitzi, Jennifer J. Otten, and Linda D. Meyers 2006 Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements. National Academies Press. Lang, Tim, Martin Caraher, Paul Dixon, and Roy Carr-Hill 1999 Cooking Skills and Health. Health Educational Authority. Neely, Crystal 2007 The Significance of Food in Culture. Is Taste an Art Form?UW-L Journal of Undergraduate Research 10:14. Rozin, Paul, Claude Fischler, Sumio Imada, Allison Sarubin, and Amy Wrzesniewski 1999 Attitudes to Food and the Role of Food in Life in the USA, Japan, Flemish Belgium and France: Possible Implications for the Diet–health Debate. Appetite 33(2):163-180. USDA, and HHS 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. U.S Department of Agriculture and U.S. department of Health and Human Services. Washington DC.

Crespi, Bernard J. 2000 The Evolution of Maladaptation. Heredity 84(6):623-629. Goyal, Anita, and N. P. Sing

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