Education Status and Inequal Diet Consumption

They say you should never stop learning and nutrition education is no different

Education is so important and has such impact potential. With proper education comes the ability to make knowledgeable decisions that can truly determine your life’s outcome. Nutrition education specifically, is one area where not only is knowledge a main factor, but behavior change plus consistency all need to coincide to make the largest impact. This can be overwhelming as it suggests we need to master three major areas to increase longevity and improve our quality of life. And, unfortunately, this is something the world is not on equal playing fields.

The World Health Organization pooled data from over 27,000 individuals in twelve European countries between the ages of 19-64. Through a series of dietary survey reports and reporting of socioeconomic status, it was determined that lower income countries and lower educated groups had poorer, malnourished diets, particular to essential micronutrients. On the opposite spectrum, higher gross domestic product per country, or income, yielded higher sugar intake and overall poor diet quality.

Therefore, assumptions aside, more money does not always equal better dietary choices or habits. Everyone can benefit from having a conversation around nutrition education. Nutrition is something that we can reap the benefits of each and every day and should be included into curriculums as much as possible. So, what can we do about that? Well, the focus of WHO and other large governmental agencies lies within implementing nutrition education and policy work. But, we can take this as an opportunity amongst ourselves to identify where our own nutrition education status is and where we need to learn more.

Nutrition resources are by no means shorted thanks in part to the world wide web, but pay attention to the author or organization as not everything you read is factual. Not only does Dole provide you top of the line nutrition education newsletters, we have a library full of resources categorized by Healthy Body, Healthy Family, and Healthy Life. And, if you happen to find yourself homeschooling this fall, check out our Teacher’s Tool Kit for ways to incorporate nutrition education for grades K-6.

Afterall, we all should “learn something every day.”

Published September 2020