The Role of Food
The Role of Food
According to my Nutrition through the Life Cycle textbook, food is an essential need for humans and provides nutrients, energy in the form of calories, and other substances that are necessary for both good health and growth (Brown, 2). Even though this concept is very straightforward and well known among everyone, it is important to understand that there is more to food than meets the eye. Besides its vital role in ensuring that the energy demands of the human body’s continuous physiological processes is met, food can be very symbolic and capable of fulfilling a large variety of roles in an individual’s life. When examining the role of food in terms of the life cycle of an individual, it is important to note that it is always changing and will be different based on the person. In addition to satisfying our personal nutrition requirements, food is capable of revealing our individual characteristics, personal values, or even valuable information about our society as a whole. Out of the many different stages of the life cycle, there will be three stages in particular that I will be focusing on; they are: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Childhood is often one of the most fun, memorable, and enjoyable stages of an individual’s life. Not only is it a time when an individual begins to build upon the knowledge they’ve acquired from toddlerhood; it is a time when a large number of friends can be made. This leads to one of the many roles food can serve in this stage of life, which is its role in the act of establishing and maintaining friendships. One perfect example of this role in action is during lunch hour in school. When it is time for lunch at school, all of the children congregate together and have the opportunity to socially interact and bond with one another while eating. At this time, children may even offer a portion of their lunch to their peers and use that moment as an opportunity to converse with others and establish friendships that
According to my Nutrition through the Life Cycle textbook, food is an essential need for humans and provides nutrients, energy in the form of calories, and other substances that are necessary for both good health and growth (Brown, 2). Even though this concept is very straightforward and well known among everyone, it is important to understand that there is more to food than meets the eye. Besides its vital role in ensuring that the energy demands of the human body’s continuous physiological processes is met, food can be very symbolic and capable of fulfilling a large variety of roles in an individual’s life. When examining the role of food in terms of the life cycle of an individual, it is important to note that it is always changing and will be different based on the person. In addition to satisfying our personal nutrition requirements, food is capable of revealing our individual characteristics, personal values, or even valuable information about our society as a whole. Out of the many different stages of the life cycle, there will be three stages in particular that I will be focusing on; they are: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Childhood is often one of the most fun, memorable, and enjoyable stages of an individual’s life. Not only is it a time when an individual begins to build upon the knowledge they’ve acquired from toddlerhood; it is a time when a large number of friends can be made. This leads to one of the many roles food can serve in this stage of life, which is its role in the act of establishing and maintaining friendships. One perfect example of this role in action is during lunch hour in school. When it is time for lunch at school, all of the children congregate together and have the opportunity to socially interact and bond with one another while eating. At this time, children may even offer a portion of their lunch to their peers and use that moment as an opportunity to converse with others and establish friendships that
Cited: Brown, Judith E. "Nutrition Basics." Nutrition Through the Life Cycle. 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, CENGAGE Learning, 2011. 2-3. Print.