Traditional Food Habits
Social factors and cultural practices in most countries have a great influence on what people eat, on how they prepare food, on their feeding practices, and on the foods they prefer. Throughout history, different societies have exhibited great variations in diet. But during the 20th century, greatly increased world trade and improved communications have resulted in major
changes in the variety of foods eaten in many countries. Asian cuisines have become popular in Europe and North America, and Western "fast foods" are increasingly available in developing countries. In general, the staple food in most countries has not changed.
Throughout history, as long as the food supply was sufficient the
Traditional diets of most cultures have provided all the essential nutrients. These are divided into macronutrients (carbohydrates,
fats, proteins) and micronutrients (
vitamins and minerals). In general, humans obtain most of their food
energy (see calorie) from carbohydrates (perhaps 65% worldwide); lesser amounts come from fat (about 20%) and protein (about 15%), mainly from meat and fish.
In terms of food groups, cereal grains provide about 70% of the food energy consumed by humans. Other important energy sources are root crops such as manioc (cassava); potatoes; and other starchy foods such as plantain and sago. Almost every society regards one of these foods as its principal staple. In much of the Far East, rice is the main energy source; in parts of Brazil, manioc provides the majority of calories; and for certain African groups, such as the Baganda and Wachagga, plantain is the staple.
Legumes such as lentils, peas, beans, and peanuts also form an important part of the diet of almost all cultural groups, although they seldom are the main staple. These legumes, or pulse crops, are nutritionally important. The combination of a cereal grain and a legume in the traditional diets of many different cultural groups is sound nutritional practice.
Fruits and vegetables are of lesser importance in terms of macronutrients, but they supply essential vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. In the diets of many countries, certain vitamins such as vitamin C and carotene (the precursor of vitamin A) are obtained mainly from this food group.
Humans also consume a variety of fats and oils of animal and vegetable origin and eat a wide range of condiments, flavorings, and spices. Outside of salt, which supplies the trace elements sodium and chlorine, most of the latter contain few nutrients, but they often help increase the appetite and assist digestion by stimulating the secretion of digestive juices.
Changing Food Habits and Related Problems
The major cause of undernutrition and nutritional-deficiency
diseases has seldom been traditional food habits. The usual cause has been a lack of adequate food due to poverty or consumption of too limited a variety of food. Infectious diseases and lack of care contribute importantly to malnutrition in children. Protein-energy malnutrition is generally due to consumption of too little food, and micronutrient deficiencies such as anemia, iodine deficiency disorders, and pellagra are due to diets inadequate in specific minerals and vitamins.
Advances in agriculture and food-processing techniques have afforded the potential of increased food supply and a nutritionally enriched diet, but modernization and Westernization of food habits have also had deleterious effects. For example, at the turn of the 20th century new rice milling techniques caused an outbreak of beriberi (a thiamine-deficiency disease) in Asia, resulting in millions of deaths. The substitution of bottle-feeding for breast-feeding among poor families in developing countries has been responsible for a great deal of malnutrition and diarrhea, as well as infant deaths.
Increasingly, changes in diets in the developing countries due to Westernization and greater affluence has led to an increase in chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and certain cancers. These diseases are already major causes of mortality in the industrialized countries. Much of this is related to high intakes of foods of animal origin and a greater percentage of food energy coming from fats, oils, and sugar and less coming from complex carbohydrates. In the United States almost 40% of calories comes from fats and oils and 20% from sugar in typical diets. A high consumption of foods of animal origin, particularly in relatively sedentary people, has led to increased risks of these diseases. Dietary changes in less affluent countries are leading to great increases in cardiovascular diseases and some forms of cancer. In northern countries changes in diets have contributed to a slight reduction in coronary heart disease, but in the United States the prevalence of obesity continues.
More abstracts about the ADVANTAGES OF TRADITIONAL FOOD HABBITS AND DANGERS OF NEW FOOD HABBITS