Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
Week 2 Assignment
Interactive Media Assessment
Access the interactive media piece, “Social, Behavioral, and Cultural Factors in Public Health: Increasing Cultural Competency.”
Navigate and review the information in the interactive media piece and complete the assessment at the end. The assessment is based on the information presented in the media piece (although you may also apply what you have learned from other course readings to complete the assessment).Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
After completing the assessment, save the document as an Acrobat PDF file and submit the assignment to the instructor.
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The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
Food habits are one of the most complex aspects of human behavior, being determined by multiple motives and directed and controlled by multiple stimuli. Food acceptance is a complex reaction influenced by biochemical, physiological, psychological, social and educational factors. Metabolic conditions play an important role. Age, sex and mental state are factors of importance. People differ greatly in their sensory response to foods. The likes and dislikes of the individual with respect to food move in a framework of race, tradition, economic status and environmental conditions1.
For most people food is cultural, not nutritional. A plant or animal may be considered edible in one society and inedible in another. Probably one of the most important things to remember in connection with the cultural factors involved in food habits is that there are many combination of food which will give same nutritional results1.
Culture consist of values, attitudes, habits and customs, acquired by learning which starts with the earliest experiences of childhood, much of which is not deliberately taught by anyone and which so thoroughly internalized that it is unconscious but ‘goes deep’ (Fathauer.G.H,1960)2. Food habits are among the oldest and most deeply entrenched aspects of many cultures and cannot, therefore, be easily changed, or if forcibly changed, can produce a series of unexpected and unwelcome reactions. Food and food habits as a basic part of culture serve as a focus of emotional association, a channel of love, discrimination and disapproval and usually have symbolic references. The sharing of food symbolizes a high degree of social intimacy and acceptance1.Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
In many cultures food has a social or ceremonial role. Certain foods are highly prized; others are reserved for special holidays or religious feasts; still others are a mark of social position. There are cultural classifications of food such as ‘inedible’, ‘edible by animals’, ‘edible by human beings but not by one’s own kind of human being’, ‘edible by human being such as self’, ‘edible by self’. In different cultures, certain foods are considered ‘heavy’, some are ‘light’ some as ‘foods for strength’; some as ‘luxury’, etc1.
The challenge to health care provider is to be culturally adaptable, to display cross-cultural communication skills, to remain aware of nonverbal cues that are culturally motives, and to move toward a trusting interpersonal relationship as quickly as possible.
John Cassel (1957)3 had illustrated in his review, that it is possible to derive some guiding principles indicating the significance of social and cultural factors to health programs in general. Health workers should have an intimate detailed knowledge of the people’s beliefs, attitudes, knowledge and behavior before attempting to introduce any innovation into an area.Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
The second principle, which is usually more difficult to apply, is that the psycho logic and social functions of these practices, beliefs, and attitudes need to be evaluated. As stated by Benjamin Paul3, “It is relatively easy to perceive that others have different customs and beliefs, especially if they are ‘odd’ or ‘curious’. It is generally more difficult to perceive the pattern or system into which these customs or beliefs fit.” It is in this area of determining the pattern or system into which these customs or beliefs fit those social scientists can probably make their greatest contribution to health programs. This is the knowledge that will help to determine why certain practices exist, how difficult it will be to change them, and give indications of the techniques that can be expected to be most helpful.
A third principle that should be emphasized was unfortunately not well illustrated in the example but is of fundamental importance. The sub cultural groups must be carefully defined, as programs based on premises, true for one group, will not necessarily be successful in a neighboring group. This also is an area in which we as health workers can receive invaluable assistance from social scientists.
Anne Burgess (1961)4 stated that health assistants with some training in the principles of anthropology and education are indeed an innovation and it appears an effective one. Where nutrition education has proved disappointing in the past, could it be that ‘retention of customs’ has been as ‘turbulent a thing’ as that of the villagers.Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
Nelson Freimer et al (1983)5. Cultural variation may play an important role in human nutrition and must be considered in either clinical or public health intervention particularly in areas with large immigrant populations. Acculturate and environmental change influences the food habits and health of transitional groups. Nutritional assessment may be complicated by cultural variation. The relationship between ethnicity and nutrition may be of evolutionary significance. Food beliefs may have beneficial or detrimental effects on health status. The study of acculturating populations may elucidate the parthenogenesis of nutrition-related chronic diseases. Appreciation of the interaction of culture and nutrition may be of benefit to physicians and nutritionists in clinical practice and to those concerned with the prevention of nutrition related chronic diseases.
Christine M. Olson (1989)6 had stated that childhood nutrition education is imperative in health promotion and disease prevention. The Report concludes ‘that over consumption of certain dietary components is now a major concern for Americans’. While many food factors are involved, chief among them is the disproportionate consumption of foods high in fat, often at the expense of foods high in complex carbohydrates and fiber that may be more conducive to health.Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
Two widely recommended strategies for incorporating nutrition education directed toward children and youth into health promotion and disease prevention efforts are school-based nutrition education and the integration of nutritional care into health care. School based nutrition education programs targeted toward very specific eating behaviors are showing very promising results in regard to behavior and attitude change of children and adolescents. Substantial changes in health care providers’ attitudes and practices and in the funding and financing of health care will be needed if nutrition education is to be delivered in the context of routine health care.
Puline M Adair, Cynthia M Pine et al (2004)7 had conducted a study on familial and cultural perceptions and beliefs of oral hygiene and dietary practices among ethnically and sociology-economically diverse groups. Factor analysis identified those attitudes, towards tooth brushing, sugar snacking and childhood caries. Attitudes were significantly different in families from deprived and non-deprived backgrounds and in families of children with and without caries. Parents’ perception of their ability to control their children’s tooth brushing and sugar snacking habits were the most significant predictors of whether or not favorable habits were reported. Some differences were found by site and ethnic group. This study supports the hypothesis that parental attitudes significantly has an impact on the establishment of habits favorable to oral health. An appreciation of the impact of cultural and ethnic diversity is important in understanding how parental attitudes to oral health vary. Further research should examine in a prospective intervention whether enhancing parenting skills is an effective route to preventing childhood caries. Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
Abdul Arif Khan et al (2008)8 had conducted a study on prevalence of dental caries among the population of Gwalior (India) in relation of different associated factors. They found that incidence of dental caries was higher in female. High number of dental caries patients was observed among vegetarian population. 21-30 year age group was found to be most infected with dental caries. This study helpful to analyze respective role of different dietary factors including protein rich diet, age, gender etc. on the prevalence of dental caries, which can be helpful to counteract the potential increase in the cases of dental caries and to design and plan preventive strategies for the persons at greatest risk.
Factors influencing standards of nutrition Soil management.-As an omnivorous animal, man obtains his food from both animal and vegetable sources. Basically, however, the nutritive value of his diet is determined by the nutrients present in the soil upon which his food is grown. The nutritive elements in the soil and the fertility of the soil depend not only on its geologic structure but also on the manner in which the soil is conserved and cultivated. In many underdeveloped countries the traditional horticultural and agricultural practices are primitive, but they do maintain the fertility of the soil. In some countries, however, an increase in the population and industrialization has encouraged the growth of a cash-crop economy, the abandonment of customary practices of soil conservation, and the impoverishment of the soil. These changes can be reflected in deterioration in the health of both animals and man. In Africa, for example, the prevalence of Kwashiorkor is higher in areas with a cash-crop economy than in less sophisticated areas where mixed farming is still practiced.Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
Food selection
It has often been demonstrated that, in many areas of the world, people can live completely healthy lives despite the fact that, according to Western standards, their nutrition is inadequate8.
Authorities on the nutrition of people in Southeast Asia have pointed out that a diet which appears to be deficient is actually adequate, either because the people eat the most nutritious parts of plants and animals which elsewhere are thrown away as waste or because they have achieved an adaptation to the economical use of the food eaten. It is therefore; wrong to use standards that are appropriate in industrialized societies as a measure of the nutritional adequacy of the diet of underdeveloped or primitive societies.
The food actually consumed is obviously determined by what is available. It is not surprising, therefore, to find considerable differences in food selection between rural and urban communities. Within both urban and rural communities, variations in food selection between families are also influenced by sociology-economic status.
The selection of food is often based on religious beliefs. For example, the attitude toward corn among Mexican Indians is religious. Often they cannot be persuaded to grow other crops on land where these would do better than corn, because they would rather have a poor crop of corn than a good crop of something that is not corn. Because of the strong religious feeling against killing or eating cattle, less than per cent of the population of India eat meat. Moslems and Jews can eat meat other than pork, but only if it has been killed in certain ways governed by religious laws.Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health
Many people are strict vegetarians for religious reasons. Some are vegetarians because they believe in the superior virtue of plant foods. Others avoid certain foods simply because they do not like them. Storage and distribution of food.-In the Middle East and Far East, where the facilities for refrigeration, preservation, or storage are non-existent, and any animal slaughtered must be consumed immediately, so that the supply of first-class protein is irregular8.
In other regions, such as the Arctic and parts of Africa, meat is preserved by drying. In parts of Europe and the Middle East, fruits and vegetables are not preserved, so that they can be eaten only seasonally. Sometimes traditional methods of preservation have been lost as a result of outside contact.’ In parts of Africa, poor storage methods have resulted in the development of toxic elements in rice.
In short, epidemiologists and public health workers who recognize a need for better nutrition must consider the traditional methods of growing and storing food. However, it is not enough merely to arrange to increase the available food supply. Changes will be acceptable only if they are in keeping with the established food habits of the people.Social Behavior and Cultural Factor in Public Health