CHANGING STORIES - The Salsa of Social Norms: Exploring Diet Behaviors and Body Image in Latin America!
Welcome to issue #40?of?Changing Stories -?MAGENTA's monthly round-up of all that is interesting, inspiring and innovative from the world of Social and Behavioural Change?(SBC).
Read, think, share, and enjoy!
Understanding Social Norms That Drive Diet Behaviours and Body Image in Latin America
The double burden of malnutrition in Latin America is the region’s single most important public health concern for the next several decades. As economies in Latin America develop and become more globalized, people across the region are increasingly transitioning away from traditional diets of plants, whole grains, legumes, meat, and fish and toward diets rich in processed sugar, fat, oil, and refined grains. They are also transitioning from lifestyles high in physical activity and physical labour toward lifestyles low in physical activity. This conjunction of changes in diet and physical inactivity are cornerstones of the region’s epidemic of nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases. By 2030, over 80 % of deaths in Latin America will be attributed to noncommunicable diseases (NCD). Compared to other countries, Latin America has the highest rates of NCD. Latin America’s burden of disease also has distinct features in comparison to high-income countries in North America and Europe: nearly 20 percent of NCD are diagnosed in people under 60 years old in Latin America, whereas only about 13 percent of people under 60 years old are diagnosed with these diseases. Put simply, more people in Latin America are getting sick from NCD, and they are getting sick at younger ages than people in high-income countries.
MAGENTA conducted qualitative research to identify key social norms that influence behaviours around diet, nutrition and body image among children and adolescents in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. The objective of this study is to better understand people’s decisions making processes, preferences, and norms around food choices, and ultra-processed foods, to provide recommendations for future programming and policy suggestions at the national and regional levels.
How social media is influencing what young people eat
95% of 16-24 year olds have a social media profile, making them the biggest user demographic in the UK. Known as 'digital natives', Gen Z’s engage with social media numerous times a day. Read more to understand its impact on their daily lives, particularly on their food habits.
Young people often turn to social media to gather meal inspiration and are influenced by the food trends they see on various platforms. Since it is an environment where visual and social cues overlap, users are more impressionable and more likely to copy the food they see online.
Furthermore, research indicates that social media may be altering our relationship with food. A study predicts that young people are exposed to food marketing around 30-189 times per week on social media, with high sugar and fast food being most commonly shown (BBC, 2021).?
The Factors That Influence Our Food Choices
Given the priority for population?dietary change, there is a need for a greater understanding of the determinants that affect food choice. This review examines the major influences on food choice with a focus on those that are amenable to change and discusses some successful interventions.
The key driver for eating is of course hunger but what we choose to eat is not determined solely by physiological or nutritional needs. Some of the other factors that influence food choice include:
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Getting to know Latin American food culture
Food is so essential to our experiences and memories, it could be a sixth love language. While volunteering in Latin America, you can sample dishes based on the traditions of centuries-old civilisations, evoking your own experiences and memories as you learn about each culture.
The Mayan, Inca and Aztec people built prominent civilisations throughout Mexico, and Central and South America. These civilisations form the basis of today’s culinary and cultural traditions in the region.?
The food traditions of the Aztec and Mayan people were closely related due to their proximity. They were located where Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and northern El Salvador are today. The Inca people were located in South America.
While volunteering in Mexico, Peru?or any other country within Central America, you’ll most likely come across the culinary traces of these early communities.
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Sustained behavior change is key to preventing and tackling future pandemics
Investment in research and programs to discover and apply the principles that underpin sustained behavior change is needed to address the continuing threat from COVID-19 and future pandemics and will require collaboration among behavioral, social, biomedical, public-health and clinical scientists.
Human behavior was instrumental in causing COVID-19, and changing it has been vital to tackling this pandemic. The countries that have done best in mitigating COVID-19’s harms to health and to their economies have rapidly and successfully persuaded their populations to enact large-scale behavior change. Some of these interventions have been highly effective, others have been less so, and some have produced substantial social and financial harm. In particular, national ‘lockdowns’ have been effective in keeping people from interacting, to reduce the spread of disease, but they have been very damaging to people’s lives and to national economies. Therefore, lockdowns should ideally be used only to bring transmission levels low enough to be controllable by other policies. These policies include adequate ‘find, test, trace, isolate and support’ systems.?border controls and quarantine to prevent reseeding of infections; the creation of safe working, domestic and transport spaces; and the promotion of personal protective behaviors such as the use of face coverings.
Enrol in MAGENTA Academy
Register?for our upcoming session on September 12?2023 "SBC in a Day" (French),?September 20?2023 "SBC in a Day" (English) and September 25?2023 "SBC in a Day" (Arabic).
?This course is designed to give you:
MAGENTA Academy is our training and capacity-building institute where we upskill our partners on SBC theory and practice. We train governments, CSOs, journalists, and clients on how to enhance their understanding of how to apply behavioural science in their work. Our expert trainers are themselves SBC practitioners and courses range from a one-day crash course on the fundamentals of SBC, to bespoke training courses tailored to meet the capacity gaps of specific stakeholders.??