To What Extent Is Adults’ Concern Over Children And Young People’s Use Of Modern Technologies Ju

Adults' justified concerns over children and youth's dietary habits

To What Extent Is Adults’ Concern Over Children And Young People’s Use Of Modern Technologies Justified?

Should Adults Be Concerned Over What Children And Young People Eat?

Food is one of the primary essentials for survival. Healthy eating provides for the nutrients requirement of the body that in turn leads to sound mental and physical health. Eating healthy is especially crucial when it comes to youth and children for cognitive development and efficient growth. The dietary habits that are embraced during these ages are expected to be retained into adulthood, highlighting the magnitude of boosting healthy eating habit at the early age into person’s lifestyle (Larson, Laska, Story, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2012). This essay aims to evaluate the significance of the adults concerns over the dietary habits of the children and youth. Adults being the primary care givers are understandably concerned about the dietary requirements and or supplements of the children and youth in their care and how they will be fulfilled. With the fast-paced world and constant changes being the only constant, “feeding” is a very substantial responsibility of adults in almost every culture in the world, this recognisably ensures a healthy cognitive and physical development. Adult’s concern over the dietary habits of young people and little children is justified because of variety of reasons that will be discussed in this essay one by one.  

Food has always been a socio-cultural homogenizer in the community. Conversations about food and culture are beyond the theories and academic researches of anthropology and sociology (Murcott, 2013). In a family setting in which most households with children and youth are accustomed in, meal time bring together the members to have a conversation, the preparation of the meal together also improves rapport shared by the family living under one roof or friends getting together for an event. Most adults fudge major apprehensions over the kind, type and amount of food items and the percentage of which can be labelled as “healthy diet” that goes into consumption by a child or adolescent in their care.  In a close family environment this behaviour is steadily developed as they have cultures and traditions around family recipes which are considered as heirloom. That gives adults authority over the type and way of preparation of the food and the derived behaviour to be followed by the young. General population has perceptions about the quality of the food or brand which their primary consumers. When asked about their snaking habit, UK children aged 11-12 labelled more expensive snacks reserved for parents and conflicting these with lesser ones for children. This points at family hierarchies and the influence of brands for showcasing status was also seen in children peer groups  (Curtis, James , & Ellis , 2010).

Family's culture, traditions, and social status affect food choices

Since there are different realities for people and diverse living conditions person might be growing up in the notion of the personal experiences related to food also differ from person to person. Mildred Baxter’s survey in the late 90s showed the idea of an association between a person’s diet and social health. The more the support in the form of social integration a person possess the healthier they will perceive themselves and engage in a healthy balanced diet. The major finding from the survey was that social setting and situation that a person is in defines the likelihood of eating a serving of healthy food items such as fruits and vegetables. This could be generalized as the fixation of compulsively eating sweet when a person is sad, or drinking alcohol in a social party and or eating fruits when served by a grandparent (Belton, 2013).

A systematic review done by (Shepherd, et al., 2006) is the most comprehensive study that inspected the hurdles and expediters of healthy eating among the age group of 11–16-year-olds. They based their findings on broader bases of health on the society level intervention. Obstacles in the way of healthy eating were summarised as easy accessibility and the relative cheapness of fast food, the improper endowment of school meals whereas the enablers in healthy eating included positive family support, will power, actual wider accessibility of healthy food and the need to look after one’s own self. This study highlighted the effect of adult’s intervention in the food choices a young person makes. They also discussed how to influence the food choices that are made having a few intrusions such as improved labelling of food products and conclude with a major suggestion of amplifying the obtainability of inexpensive healthy food in youth friendly areas.

The “choice” about choosing the food item type and variety might look two dimensional on the surface, but it is multifaceted and is influenced by a variety of factors primarily being ‘how it is marketed?’. The impact of advertising and social media influencing is strikingly attractive and specifically caters to children and young people. When the images shared on these social media websites by adolescents were examined closely, about 85% of them shared images of food items, 67.7% of these images were of food that is low in nutrient values and high of the calories count. Moreover, nearly half of these Images clearly depicted the brand name, showing a clear sign of marketing campaigns influence. These images were also presented as a copy of advertisement of these brands and often included a personal recommendation. This is visibly a brilliant marketing strategy being in action.  On the other side fruits and vegetables showed up on only 21.8% of all images (Holmberg, Chaplin, Hillman, & Berg, 2016). This shows indistinct signs of harmful marketing strategies that are corrupting the malleable brains of youth and possibility of it being loosened down by an adult’s supervision. The basis of food preferences that are instituted this early in their lives which are likely to stay alongside early into adulthood and become quite difficult to run out of later. A study conducted in 2011 by Hare-bruun et al, explored the co-relation between the tv viewing habits and food behaviour in adolescents. They hypothesized that more TV or media consumption is directly related to unhealthy food related behaviour exhibited by teenagers. The study was cross sectional with previous records being analysed to have a clear understanding. The associations were prevalent between both groups of boys and girls of 8-10 year and 14-16 years. This also described the pattern with frequency of meals when consuming a piece of media without undivided attention that leads to careless non nutritious food consumption. (Hare-Bruun, Nielsen, Kristensen, Moller, & Heitmann, 2011) . These statistics provides an insight in children’s behaviour which gets when there are adults in the picture. The socio-cultural obligations of youth prevent them to have the same unhealthy dietary habits in a presence of a elder more responsible person.

Social setting and situations affect dietary habits

There is a wide crater of food inequality in the world. With the mal nutrition and malnourishment prevalent in the low-income groups and obesity & overconsumption being a primary concern of the adults and care givers of the children from adequate financial status. According to WHO, there are 1.9 billion obese adults while 462 million underweight adults in the world. There are 47 million children who are not even 5 who are malnourished, 158.3 million are either stunned or severely wasted.  Almost 45% of all children deaths are related to malnourishment (WHO, 2020). Obesity is predominantly the most common nutritional disorder in children and young adults. Obesity is a multifactorial disease which means its causation lies in a blend of influences of several genes or relations between environment and genes. The causative factors were implied as genetic, environmental, psychological as well as improper diet and lack of physical activity. This causes some potential long-term consequences along with other temporary impediments such as orthopaedic troubles and psychosocial disruptions (Agostoni, et al., 2011). Regular monitoring of weigh, habits and behaviour are some of the preventive measures towards both above discussed conditions (NHS, 2021). These preventive measures sometimes take the base for hyper-sensitivity and insecurities in young and children that can lead to other issues such as low self-esteem and body dimorphic intuitions.

As much as the nutrient intake plays a major role in the physical and cognitive development, the imbalance in the same can take a negative turmoil at mental health. There are numerous food and food behaviour related disorders that can affect the psyche and physical health of a person. Approximately there are 1.25 to 3.4 million people in United Kingdom that are suffering from one or another eating disorder, amongst them about 75% are women (NICE, 2017). The high percentage of female composition (75%) therefore depicts the lack of self-esteem and body positivity portrayed in the media as they are more likely to be influenced by the media as per the findings of Hare-Bruun et al, in the previously quoted research (Hare-Bruun, Nielsen, Kristensen, Moller, & Heitmann, 2011). The medical history of the development of these disorders can be traced back to their adolescent age; onset of these disorders can be as early as 6 years of age and as late as 70s for adults. They are most common among the ages of 16-40.  Eating disorders has the highest mortality rate among the youth in all the psychiatric disorders in England. Anorexia nervosa has the uppermost mortality percentage in all the psychological disorders in young people (Priory group, 2021). This is a serious threat for the youth that will shape the future of the country. The average ages of the life threating eating disorders are 16-19 years (NICE, 2017)  Anorexia Nervosa and all the other eating disorders are relatively preventable by embracing healthy eating behaviour and fostering body positive attitudes in the adolescent. A lot of eating disorders are genetically inherited therefore the experience and guidance of adults can help in dealing with the condition for a young individual (Priory group, 2021).

Impact of marketing strategies on children and young adults

Healthy eating is obviously a outcome of a multifarious intersection of income, taste, values, experience, education and culture. The most important factor in this is the psycho-social one as it’s the way a person feels with respect to the world. This puts the perspective of health being more than just physical health and therefore how a person feels is what the person will consume (Belton, 2013). Although adult’s behaviour and concerns can sometimes encourage an individual’s development of healthy dietary behaviour but constant nagging according to behavioural theories can create a non-favourable behaviour (conner & Norman, 2020) . Their concerns are usually for the emotional need to correct certain behaviour and as the researches and government data sheets have shown above that non-conferential approach toward choices and habits in food can lead to sometimes even fatal results in the form of eating disorders. Therefore, adults can and show a directive way for food consumption for the young and youth to follow.

To conclude the food behaviour when monitored can be drastically healthier than a causal laid-back approach in children, youth and even adults. Adults are primary influences in the lives of children and youth, the behaviour exhibited and encouraged by them is likely to form an everlasting impact on their lives way into the adulthood and these habits are hard to let go. The food choices are heavily influenced by the media, active advertising and social media which cause a unhealthy desirability of a popular food item in the young minds regardless of its nutritional values or negative health benefits which could be diluted by the presence of a responsible adult. The food behaviour pattern is also subject to social setting and the feeling one has about their environment, so the adult’s concerns would promote healthy dietary decisions. There are drastically negative consequences of having unhealthy food related influences as there are numerous food and food behaviour related disorders that can affect the psyche and physical health of a person. There are approximately 1.25 to 3.4 million people in United Kingdom that are suffering from one or another eating disorder, amongst them 75% are women. The high percentage of female composition depicts the lack of self-esteem and body positivity portrayed in the media. Adults’ interventions have helped create healthy eating habits in children and developed a sense of “responsible towards self” approach for the youth under their care. Adults are influential in developing behaviours in younger people so as long as there are healthy intentions adults concerns over the food consumption done by youth and children are justified.

Agostoni, C., Braegger, C., Decsi, T., Kolacek, S., Koletzko, B., Mihatsch, W., . . . van Goudoever, J. (2011). Dietary Factors and Food Habits in Development of Childhood Obesity. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 52(6), 662–669.

Belton, T. (2013). Exploring Attitudes to Eating Fruitand Vegetables. In P. Belton, & T. Belton, Food and culture (p. 115). Berlin: Springer .

conner, M., & Norman, P. (2020). Predicting health behviour (2 ed.). Berkshire, England: open university Press.

Curtis, P., James , A., & Ellis , K. (2010). Children’s snacking, children’s food: Food moralities and family life. Children Geographies, 8(3), 291-302.

Hare-Bruun, H., Nielsen, B. M., Kristensen, P. L., Moller, N. C., & Heitmann, B. L. (2011). Television viewing, food preferences, and food habits among children: A prospective. MC Public Health, 11, 1-10.

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Murcott, A. (2013). Food and Culture. In P. Belton, & T. Belton, Food, Science and society : expolring the gap between expert advice and individual behaviour (p. 21). Berlin: Springer.

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Shepherd, J., Harden, A., Rees, R., Brunton, G., Garcia, J., Oliver, S., & Oakley, A. (2006). Young people and healthy eating: a systematic review of research on barriers and facilitators. Health Education Research, 21(2), 239–257. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyh060

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