How the photograph illustrates a social determinant of health
Figure 1.Cake, cookies and a glass of soda (own photo).
Cakes, soda and cookies are common snacks in today’s society. These foods are especially popular among teenagers. With the rising demands in day to day activities, adults have also shown preference for junk food so as to save the time that they would otherwise use to cook healthier meals. This article explores nutrition as a social determinant of health.
Fast foods such as cakes, cookies, fries and soda contain high concentrations of sugar, sodium and saturated fat. Subsequently, individuals who are in the habit of frequently consuming these foods are likely to become obese. It is a popular trend among teenagers to hang out in food joints and eat snacks. Often, the foodstuffs ordered during such social gatherings are fast foods. Most of these eateries sell only fast foods since they are easy to prepare besides being a favorite among many. Unhealthy fast-food restaurants, which are more common in neighborhoods of low socioeconomic status, has resulted into an increase in the number of overweight teenagers (Cetateanu and Jones, 2014, p.68).
Parents have also contributed to the rise in obesity among children and teenagers. It is common practice to see a child being rewarded with candy for a job well done or being soothed with ice-cream so as not to cry. In the process, parents have unconsciously encouraged unhealthy eating habits among their children. Children are thus brought up in household with poor eating habits and are more predisposed to obesity. According to Talley, (2017, p.1), obesity is common among children in Australia and the rates are likely to go up.
The psychological implications of obesity cannot be ignored. Many over-weight teenagers have low self-esteem and poor social skills. They do not feel beautiful or handsome given that the society has coined the definition of ‘beauty’ as a slim stature and ‘handsomeness’ as having a six-pack. Unfortunately, those who do not meet this definition are shammed and marked as ugly. This misconception has resulted into mental disorders such as depression among teenagers. In some cases, body shaming and cyber-bullying have been reported. Some of the victims of such injustices have ended up committing suicide; a choice that would have been avoided if healthier eating habits and choices were inculcated into them when they were children.
Fast foods have also found their way into offices where they are a common meal for lunch among workers. Most people reason that when they eat fast foods, they save more time and improve their productivity at work. Ironically, these foods are a slow-killer and ultimately result in obesity, poor health and under productivity. According to the World Health Organization (2015, The Extent of the Problem), obesity predisposes people to cardiac disorder, hypertension, cancer and diabetes. In the long run, instead making a person more productive at work, fast foods increase absenteeism due to frequent hospital visits.
The approaches that can be used to improve health status and equity
Workers who do not show up at work regularly due to sick offs are often retrenched; this further derails their health. Many of them fall into depression after losing their job as they are unable to maintain their daily upkeep. A great portion of their social circle that comprises of their colleagues is also cut off. Still, they are unable to meet their medical expenses. For instance, those who suffer from diabetes due to unhealthy eating habits are unable to afford their insulin dosages. Death is often imminent is such cases.
One of the approaches that can be used to improve nutritional health status is placing more emphasis on preventive medicine. It is often better and more-cost effective to manage a disease before it occurs. The focus of managing obesity-related diseases should therefore shift from therapeutic care to primary care. As things are, many health workers give patients medicine to relieve their symptoms and fail to actually treat the cause of their ailment (Pizzorno and Stephenson, 2017, p.17). This approach of healthcare delivery should change to involve more patient education on healthier lifestyle patterns such as good diet and regular exercise. The expenditure on healthcare will also decrease when preventive healthcare is given an upper hand.
The other approach can be implemented at the grass root level, whereby the school curriculum incorporates lessons on healthy eating habits and self-esteem. Children who are not trained on healthy eating patterns early in their life tend to become obese in their teenage years (United Nations News, 2013, para. 9). Therefore, parents should train their children on healthy feeding right from infancy. Also, self-esteem counseling sessions should be made available for obese teenagers so as to reduce the rate of depression. When they are guided on how to improve their self-image and on healthy exercise routines that can effectively help them lose weight, then the number of teenage suicides will decrease. However, these sessions should be provided at the students will and not mandatory. They should also be done at utmost confidentiality.
The third approach can be implemented by the government by increasing the amount of tax levied on fast foods. The tax will be passed on to the consumers through an increase in the prices of these foods. Franck, Grandi and Eisenberg (2013, p. 1949) propose that the tax and subsequent prices of junk food should be increased so as to make them less attractive to consumers. People always want to buy the cheaper alternative of a good so that they can save. Thus, they will tend to opt for the cheaper but healthier foods. Alternatively, the prices of healthier goods can be decreased so that they become more appealing to consumers. Either way, both will result into a healthier society.
A reflection on how the process of taking the photograph assisted me think about nutrition as a social determinant of health.
On the other extreme, the government should embrace approaches that mitigate malnutrition. An example of achieving this can be by setting up food security policies that ensure that every citizen is able to access adequate and nutritious food. There are those who still suffer from malnutrition in Australia, especially the indigenous communities. Despite the government’s efforts to improve the people’s health, patients with malnutrition are not usually well-documented and this gives a false picture of the actual rate of malnutrition in the country (Morris, Stewart, Riley and Maguire, 2016, p. 2). Better policies should therefore include proper coding systems for patients with malnutrition.
The photograph above shows what I had for dinner a few days ago. It was a long day and when I arrived home, I was too exhausted to prepare a healthy meal. So, I went to the fridge and served myself a glass of soda, some cookies and cake. Needless to say, I also had vegetables in the fridge; but I preferred the latter option. It was not the first time for me to have such an unhealthy meal for dinner; I had done that severally before. It was a habit that I had natured since I was a child. When taking this photograph, I looked back at how my family had influenced my unhealthy food choices. Growing up, there was always junk food in our fridge. My parents bought them with the good intention that we would conveniently snack on them at any time of the day. However, I got the false belief that fast-foods could effectively substitute healthier foods. I know that home-cooking is the best option for me to embrace. Home-cooked foods are less associated with diabetes and obesity (Mills et al, 2017, p.8). However, I still struggle to quite on junk food.
The family set-up plays a very important role in individual’s eating behaviors. Parents should therefore take a more active role in determining the type of food their children take. The government can also implement policies that promote a healthier society.
References
Cetateanu, A. & Jones, A. (2014). Understanding the relationship between food environments, deprivation and childhood overweight and obesity: Evidence from a cross sectional England-wide study. Health & Place, 27, pp. 68-76. DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.01.007. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829214000094?via%3Dihub
Franck, C., Grandi, S. M., & Eisenberg, M. J . (2013). Taxing Junk Food to Counter Obesity . American Journal of Public Health, 103(11), pp. 1949–1953. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301279 . Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3828689/
Mills, S., Brown, H., Wrieden, W., White, M. & Adams, J . (2017) . Frequency of eating home-cooked meals and potential benefits for diet and health: cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14, p.109. DOI: doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0567-y Retrieved from: https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-017-0567-y
Morris, N. F., Stewart, S., Riley , M. D., & Maguire, G. P. (2016). The Indigenous Australian Malnutrition Project: the burden and impact of malnutrition in Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander hospital inpatients, and validation of a malnutrition screening tool for use in hospitals—study rationale and protocol. SpringerPlus, 5(1), p. 1296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-2943-5 Retrieved from: https://springerplus.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40064-016-2943-5
Pizzorno, J., & Stephenson, S. (2017). Health Care System and Addressing the Determinants of Health . Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal, 16(1), pp.16–18. PMID: 28223902 Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312739/
Talley, N.J. (2017). National Health Summit on Obesity calls for Australia to take action to stem the pandemic. The Medical Journal of Australia . 206 (3): pp.106-107. DOI:10.5694/mja16.01345 Retrieved from: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2017/206/3/national-health-summit-obesity-calls-australia-take-action-stem-pandemic
United Nations News . (2013). UN outlines actions to help tackle double threat of childhood obesity, under-nutrition. Retrieved from: https://news.un.org/en/story/2013/06/441532-un-outlines-actions-help-tackle-double-threat-childhood-obesity-undernutrition
World Health Organization . (2015). Obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, alcohol and tobacco: The World Health Organization’s response. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/whr/media_centre/factsheet3/en/
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