Depending on your understanding of what constitutes nutrition, there are many determinant factors that guide your food choices.

How to

The main biological driver for you to eat is hunger or appetite followed by your personal taste preference. Other drives include, but are not limited to the following items.

1. Social and cultural determinants

Social and cultural determinants are:
- Traditional dishes
- Local and available ingredients
- Family and meal patterns
Example
- You were raised in a household where all family members sat down to dinner each night at 7:00 p.m. for a home cooked meal with vegetables, meat, grains, and desserts.

2. Economic and environmental determinants

Economic and environmental determinants are:
- Cost
- Product availability
- Geographical location
- Income
Example
- You lived a city life and ate on the run, ordered in, or picked up readymade meals each night for dinner.

3. Personal determinants

Personal determinants are:
- Education
- Food management skills
- Work schedule
- Time
- Attitude
- Core belief
- Knowledge (or lack of) about food and nutrition
Example
- You adopted a balanced lifestyle, took cooking lessons, and organized your food choices to include superfoods and organics.

4. Health and fitness determinants

Health and fitness determinants are:
- Allergies
- Predisposed genetic issues
- Weight management
Example
- You are allergic to peanuts or all nuts in general, or you adopt a diet high in protein, healthy carbs and fats, and fruits and vegetables to manage your weight and support an active lifestyle.

5. Marketing and advertising determinants

Marketing and advertising determinants are:
- News
- Articles
- TV commercials
- Social media
Example
- Claims on nutrition labels may lead you to view unhealthy foods, such as sugary cereals, like nutritious food choices.

There are other determinants that may drive your food choices; hence, you need to take time to self-assess the reasons for your food choices. Here is a list of self-discovery questions to help you explore your choices:

1. What are my food choices? (quantify and qualify)

2. Why do I make these choices?

3. What is my understanding of nutrition?

4. What are my good habits versus unhealthy habits?

5. How can I make an improvement for living better?

After taking the time to assess your choices and familiarize yourself with the USDA's guidelines, you need to swap poor food choices for healthy ones.

Practice

Now that you know the major determinants of your food choices, think of paying it forward and discuss your food choices with a friend or a family member.

Congratulations! You can move on to Chapter 3. What do budget and diet have in common?

To review the full module on Money and nutrition, click here.