Research Paper Example on Healthy Eating Habits: A Key to Sustainable Well-Being

Introduction

Multiple studies have found a strong link between dietary and eating behaviours and maintenance of sustainable health and wellness (Davies et al.; Humphries; Pang et al.; Pollan;.; Rangel et al.; Razzaque and Eldabi; Strong; etc.) Generally, people who have sustainable food choices, eat balanced diets, and live active lives are healthier and more satisfied with their lives than those who resort to fatty, salty, and sugary foods (Garcia et al.; Muzaffar et al.). Despite this underlying fact, the paradigm shifts in the contemporary lifestyle have seen more people having insufficient time to plan and prepare their meals at home. Instead, an increasing number of people prefer away-from-home or packaged meals for greater time convenience (Fairweather-Tait; Nickols and Kay). As a consequence, the burden of chronic diseases has been snowballing lately.

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A report by the World Health Organization projected that about 57% of reported global deaths in 2020 should be attributed to chronic diseases. It further states that about half of the deaths are linkable to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. The condition of the diseases is no different in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), especially Abu Dhabi. The country's reports indicate that 70.6% of Emiratis are overweight (Body Mass Index >= 25) while 34.5% of them are obese (Body Mass Index >=30). Studies have linked such worrying trends with poor culinary skills, away-from-home meals, and sedentary lifestyle. Besides, reports and projections of policymakers and scientists point out to a decline in culinary skills which eventually showcases the poor dietary practices and nutrition-based diseases which have become common in the contemporary age . Such trends explain why debates surrounding healthy eating are receiving much attention currently, especially in schools.

Needless to say, such perturbing trends needs effective address through effective policy and program developments. In this study, it is supposed that developing culinary and food preparation skills in Home Economics is paramount to fostering sustainable nutrition, better health, and holistic wellness. With respect to Pierre Bourdieu's social capital theory, development of such skills can be best attained if accrued actual and virtual resources owned by an individual or a group are taken into consideration (Banister and Booth; Bæck; Fitzpatrick). Acknowledging people's and students' cultural fields might offer a way forward for understanding the tenets and presumptions underpinning public and media conceptions of obesity, related body norms, and physical activity and nutrition interventions better and chatting way forward to promote health interventions. Thus, the purpose of this study is to carry out a systematic review to synthesise pieces of evidence on culinary science and food preparation skills in Home Economics using Bourdieusian theory’.

A Systematic Review

A qualitative systematic review was carried out to synthesise research findings and results to find responses to the interests of this research. A systematic review primarily aims at undertaking an extensive analysis of the available studies on a particular phenomenon and compare and integrate results to provide a better understanding about it and determine a research gap. As the basis for the study, the search strategy and protocol, inclusion criteria, article selection, and information analysis charts were set. A strategic search of the literature was done using various online-based research databases such as SCOPUS, PubMed, ProQuest, PsycINFO, PubMed, Science Direct, IEEE Xplore, JSTOR, and ERIC. Gray literature, especially from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) in UAE, was also found useful.

Search Phrases such as "Bourdieu's theory," "Culinary Science," "Food Preparation," "Home Economics," "Bourdieu's theory and Home Economics," "Nutrition Education," and "Cookery Practices," and "teaching methods and ethnographies" were used to locate relevant articles. Three hundred fifty articles and 17 books were identified. The following PRISMA flow diagram summarises the article selection process. The subsequent section provides syntheses of the included literature in a manner that directly answers the research questions.

Culinary Skills

Skills in food consumption and cooking are necessary for every individual. However, most people run away from mastering this crucial skill by adopting ready-made foods to avoid preparing foods. There is a unanimous agreement that there are a set of culinary skills that should be attained through Home Economics curriculum that are necessary for supporting people make optimum decisions concerning the quality of meals that they eat (Lenoir-Wijnkoop et al.; Lichtenstein and Ludwig; National Council of Curriculum and Assessment; Smith). First, is the skill on culinary foundation and understanding which is the ability to identify and promote sustainable food choices with respect to personal or a group’s social, cultural, and economic constructs. It is important to note that symbolism cultural elements such as tastes, clothing skills and mannerism are attained through an individual’s initial learning as a result of being part of a specific social class and later unconsciously influenced by the external surrounding.

The taste of cultural aspects such as art and food are learned through the immediate cultural environment that a person lives in. Such indicates that fostering cultural skills necessary for fostering the recognition of the familial and cultural aspects of various groups forms the basis of enhancing sustainable food choices. Such an assumption is strongly anchored by Pierre Bourdieu in his social capital and habitus theories. He posited that supply, demand, the market, the buyers, and the sellers are products of social construction and can be best understood through sociological methods. The arguments of Bourdieu suggest that it is vital to prize social and cultural aspects such as values, preferences, norms, and policies in implementing culinary programs and principles. People's preference for food, nutrition, and social activeness is strongly tied to their social capital.

Conclusion

Finally, the most important skill covered in the Home Economics curriculum is nutritional science which primary entail cooking and food preparation skills, and diet quality skills. Children with greater competencies in cooking and food preparation are more likely to replicate those skills in their homes, thereby informing better decisions on high-quality meals. In addition to this, there is an argument that prevention of chronic diseases would be more successful if such efforts begin at an early age. Ensuring that people develop positivism towards cooking at their tender age contributes towards their long-term health and wellness sustainability. Adolescents who enjoy culinary practices generally register higher diet quality than those who have developed dislike. Multiple studies have also confirmed that developing culinary skills, especially on food preparations and cooking, improves cooking attitudes and healthy food choices.