Week 8 -- Culture and Health : Emma Shreve

Our culture determines who we are. It affects all areas of our lives, but in particular the way we live and the things we eat. Our parents have a major impact on our health. Their heritage and the foods that they cook for us as children have a huge influence over the foods that we eat as we grow up and live on our own. Certainly the area we grow up in has an impact, too. If I had grown up anywhere besides Cincinnati, I probably wouldn’t like Skyline or goetta. Graeter’s, of course, is a different story. Everyone likes Graeter’s. The reasoning behind culture’s impact on health, however, is more complex than just eating what parents ate. Vaughn discusses the mandala of health, proposed by Hancock and Perkins. The four factors of this mandala are personal behavior, psychosocial environment, human biology, and physical environment (Vaughn 134). All of these factors are influenced by culture. I think the two most important components are personal behavior and psychosocial environment, which together make up our lifestyle. Where we grow up and the way we act have a great impact on health. If we grow up in an active environment with parents who promote an active lifestyle, the chances are much greater that we will go on to lead active lives. If we grow up eating a healthy balanced diet, it’s more likely than not that we will continue healthy eating habits. I know my favorite foods are ones that my family has been eating for as long as I can remember. Each family has those certain foods that they eat together, whether it’s a certain kind of pie or, like my family, Hash Brown Casserole during the holidays. Although I think my brother and I made this particular side dish a tradition after demanding to have it year after year.. Freshman year of high school, I ran track. After that year though, I didn't try out again. I definitely think that if I my parents were more active or showed more interest in going to track meets I might have continued with it past that first season. Although, I must admit, I was damn good that one season…



Hanging out at a track meet..



Dayana will be influenced by her parents’ heritage as well. With a Peruvian mother and an American father, I’m assuming that Dayana is growing up with a blend of these two cultures. She is from Peru, though, so she most likely identifies more with that part of her heritage. I don’t know what kind of food she likes other than during our first meeting when she mentioned that she likes pizza. Dayana was really excited about the candy and other treats we had brought in. The first thing she said to me when she got back from the library was, “YUM!” after she had seen the spread. When we were eating, mostly chips and sugary things for Dayana, she told me her mom only lets her eat one piece of candy a day. So I felt a little guilty during our party when Dayana noticed the second piñata. Of course she knew that it was filled with candy that she would soon get to take home and eat. I hope her mom wasn’t too upset with us, cause I know they had lots of fun with the piñata!

Dayana and me, check her bag of candy in her hand!